BUS603 Professional Ethics: Case Study on Monsanto's Ethical Issues

This case study provides a detailed analysis of the ethical issues surrounding Monsanto, a major agricultural company known for its pesticides and genetically modified seeds. The study identifies systemic, corporate, and individual ethical concerns related to the company's products, including their impact on the environment, human health, and market competition. It explores the company's unethical behavior, such as the development of harmful products and the pursuit of patents on GM seeds. The analysis considers ethical alternatives based on utilitarian, rights, and justice principles, recommending transparency in production processes, investments in product research, and the development of safer alternatives. The study concludes with recommendations for Monsanto to regain customer trust, including pulling harmful products from the market, introducing safer alternatives, and providing realistic proof of product safety. It also provides answers to specific questions regarding alternative products, the use of chemicals, and the limited release of Roundup, emphasizing the importance of balancing crop productivity with the health and safety of people and the environment. Desklib provides students access to solved assignments and resources for further study.

PROFESSIONAL ETHICS
MONSANTO

Monsanto is the most preliminary seller of
the agricultural products and seeds on the
global context.
Famous for pesticides and insecticides in a
negative reputation harming the environment
and lives
BACKGROUND

To identify and analyze how the products of
the company which are hazardous has
impacted the reputation of the company in
the market.
Identification of the drop of sales of the
products and challenges to the company
reputation
OBJECTIVES

Systemic: The wide range of the harmful products
that not only affect the immediate buyers but also
some of the other people. Development of a
systematic issue of lousy food
Corporate: Request for the patent for a particular
category of GM seeds.
Individual: The degrading quality of the products
of Monsanto tends to affect or harm the lives of
the individual who initiate in the consumption of
the food that has been produced by the means of
these harmful crops affecting the individual life
ETHICAL ISSUES

Systematic Problems: The natural and the social
environment will be affected in the areas of the
cultivation and the development of the crops with the
use of the products that are being consumed and
cultivated.
Corporate Problems : The market competition
seems to be fair which furthermore allows the
company towards the best of the sales.
Individual Problems : Affect to the jobs and position
of almost all the employees of the company due to the
degraded or reduced quality of the performances that
tends to affect the business reputation in the market.
Unethical behavior of company

Utilitarian Principle: Limitation of the use of harmful
chemicals in their products.
Rights Principle: Provision of detailed information or the
data regarding the components or the ingredients of the
products that have been used.
Justice Principle: Drop of the clams that have been patent
for ensuring fair share of the competition in the market.
Ethics of alternatives

Production process
transparency
Product research investments
Alternatives to the chemicals
Modification of the GM seeds
Ensuring safety to customer’s
life
Improvement of the business
reputation in long run
Analysis

Complete pull off of the existing products of
the market on an immediate basis for
regaining the customer’s trust.
Introduction of alternative products that are
not as harmful
Direction and proportion of the use of the
chemical components
Realistic prove that the products are safe
from the human lives and enviornment
To win the market reputation back
RECOMMNDATIONS

Q1
A – The company should follow some of the
other alternative products as an alternative to
the harmful GM seeds. As per the question
since the usage of the products leads to harm
in health and in environment, the company
must ensure to use the chemicals within a
specific limit.
Answers

Q2
A – In the consideration of the ethical issue of
the use of the GM seed for the increase of the
productivity of the crop taking into account
the risk associated with the life of the people,
it is essential for the company to use the
chemical in a specific ratio so that it does not
compromise the life of people and
environment together with the production of
the crop and hampers the profit margin of the
company.
Answers

Q3
A – Limited issue of Roundup can be
beneficial to the company since it will help
the company to restore its reputation and
also not provide any sort of harm towards the
health of human, animals and the
enviornment.
Answers

Baird, D., Fitzgerald, H. J., & Kieselstein, M.
(2016). Conflicts of Interest & Other Ethical
Issues. DePaul Business and Commercial Law
Journal, 1(4), 557.
Goldstein, C. E., Weijer, C., Brehaut, J. C.,
Fergusson, D. A., Grimshaw, J. M., Horn, A. R., &
Taljaard, M. (2018). Ethical issues in pragmatic
randomized controlled trials: a review of the
recent literature identifies gaps in ethical
argumentation. BMC medical ethics, 19(1), 14.
Mikal, J., Hurst, S., & Conway, M. (2016). Ethical
issues in using Twitter for population-level
depression monitoring: a qualitative study. BMC
medical ethics, 17(1), 22
references