C A S E S TU DY

PATRCIA MATIAS PEREIRA

216110028

Case Summary
The Monsanto Company is the worlds largest seed company, whit sales over $11.5
billion.
They have been facing a lot of issues over the years like legal, environmental and
health issues.
It is also important to refer that they are not just bad things they also care about
corporate responsibility.

Problem Statement
Monsanto Company doesnt have the best company image right now. The company
needs to improve this image while face the other normal problems that companies
face daily like maintain the costumers and fight with the competition. The stakeholders
dont see Monsanto like a health and environmental friend company at this moment.

Question 1
If you were Monsantos CEO, how would you best balance the conflict needs of the variety of
stakeholder groups that Monsanto should successfully engage?
The stakeholders are a fundamental part of the company so because of that its fundamental that they believe in
the company. They need to be engaged with the company proposes so that needs to be a matter of concern to
the Monsantos CEO. If I was Monsantos CEO I would start for identify the various groups of stakeholders and
understand what they specific needs and expectations in order to balance their interest.
The first group is costumers (farmers), suppliers, shareholders, consumers (that consume the food that provides
from the seeds), investors, employees of Monsanto and the society how surround the company. Some of these
would have conflicting interests in Monsanto for example, when the consumers want to have healthy food the
shareholders want to increase the profit.
So the CEO needs to adapt a balanced approach like assuring the consumers that the seeds will not create any
health issue and if they reduce the costs of operation they will be able to sell the seeds to the farmers for a lower
price and provide the investors their required rate of return. If they continue with their actions to help improve the
world like they are doing in India and Africa they will also improve the relationship with the society. This are small
examples that what I would do if I was Monsantos CEO.

Question 2
Companies, like Monsanto, that can offer technology to improve human lives are often
said to have moral obligation to the society. How can Monsanto best fulfill this moral
obligation while also protecting society and the environment from the potential
negative consequences of its products?
Companies have some moral obligations to their stakeholders and the society. Its important to
refer that moral obligations are different than legal obligations so they are not legally obligated to
fulfill the moral ones but its best for innumerous reasons that they do it.
Monsanto can fulfil their moral obligations with simple gestures like providing a better life to the
farmers and sell better quality seeds to their consumers. They also can do more research about
the health and environmental issues that evolve the company and the genetically modified seeds.
If they care about these simple things they will certainly improve the society and consequently
their image in the society.

Question 3
Monsanto has developed a differentiated patent-protected product that produces superior yields
when compared to traditional seeds. How has this strategy been impacted by the potential
negative side effects and the potential negative environmental impact of genetically modified
seeds?
Monsanto has developed a differentiated patent-protected product. They produce genetically modified seeds
and they are unique and thats why Monsanto has such a huge role in the agriculture worldwide. They have
their product patented so that means that they are the only ones that can do it and also that they have rights
for the product. For example, when a farmer buys the normal seeds he can used the seeds prevenient of this
year fields in the next year. No one will do anything about and its totally legal. But if the farmer buys from
Monsanto he cant reuse them and needs to buy new ones every year. This will result in more costs to the
farmers which season and will consequently increase also the production costs. These farmers who are from
developing countries dont have much money so thats a really negative situation.
Other negative situation is the facts that after many years Monsanto Roundup herbicide and genetically
modified seeds have begun to lead to super weeds and super bugs. That clearly is a problem because whit this
resistance Monsanto has no difference from the traditional seeds. So they need to improve their seeds.

Question 4
What can Monsanto do to alleviate stakeholder concerns? How could these actions be woven into
the marketing strategy for the company products?
Monsanto doesnt have a good image right now so they need to do something about that. If they change their
image with the society and maybe that will alleviate the stakeholders concerns. Was I suggested they should
invest in research and development about the genetically modified food and for example donate money for
environmental causes is also a good idea.
The only way that Monsanto will have success is if they archive changing people minds. Today the organic food
is popular and they have to fight against that with specific marketing strategies that show the stakeholders
that Monsanto is a healthy company. For example, when the do the research I suggest about, they should
share the results with the public (in case of positive results for the people).
Other issue for the world right now is the concern about the natural resources. Monsanto is taking measures to
be a socially responsibly company but they need to advertise that and maybe they also can do campaigns to
alert others about that. That would pass a good image about them and also will help the planet.
The company also needs to improve its code of ethics to avoid future scandals.

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Thank you for your attention!