Introduction The concept of power is the capacity to influence the action of others is inextricably linked with leadership. In organizations leaders may be perceived as powerful because of the ability

CASE STUDY 12.1: Monsanto Company

Depending on whom you talk to, Monsanto Company, the chemical and agricultural biotechnology multinational based in Creve Coeur, Missouri, is either the “devil incarnate” or the answer to some of humanity’s most vexing problems. Do a quick Google search and you’ll find a wide array of opinion in articles with titles ranging from “Monsanto Named 2013’s ‘Most Evil Corporation in New Poll” and “Monsanto Connected to At Least 200,000 Suicides in India throughout Past Decade” to “One of CR magazine’s 100 Best Corporate Citizens for 2014” (CR stands for Corporate Responsibility). One thing is for sure: Monsanto is a powerful force on the world stage, with more than 22,000 employees, $14.87 billion in annual sales, and heavy political clout in the United States and beyond.

And it’s everywhere. “Like Intel’s dominance in the chip market, almost every soybean in America has Monsanto inside,” wrote Scott Tong on Marketplace.org. Soybeans are the second-largest US crop after corn—they cover nearly a quarter of the country’s farmland—and Monsanto is responsible for planting and harvesting about 90 percent of the nation’s crop. The animals that produce our milk, eggs, meat, leather, gelatin, and wool feed on soybean meal. About 60 percent of the vegetable fats found in processed human food are soy based, too.

Monsanto’s agricultural dominance can be traced in part to 1983, when it became a pioneer by genetically modifying a plant cell to become hardier. This was part of a wider GMO movement that for some “constitutes a massive experiment on the planet, with potentially devastating effects on human health and the global environment,” as columnist Adam Kapp wrote in 2002. But that innovation, among others, has helped Monsanto produce soybeans cheaply and reliably to feed a growing global population.

Monsanto is also an innovator in pesticides, among other chemicals and technologies. Founded in 1901, over the years the company has led breakthrough research on catalytic asymmetric hydrogenation and light-emitting diodes (LEDs) and produced the insecticide DDT, PCBs, Agent Orange, and bovine growth hormone. Borrowing from biotechnology’s and the pharmaceutical industry’s playbooks (its founder was a pharmacist), Monsanto spends millions on R&D and biological patents, making much of its money back (and then some) on its patents’ reuse. Today, the company is both revered and reviled for its influence in the soybean trade and for the production of Roundup, a powerful pesticide the company insists is safe. Its introduction of the herbicide Roundup-ready Soybeans—meaning farmers can spray their fields to keep away the pests while theoretically keeping their Monsanto soybeans safe—unleashed even louder protests from environmentalists and the organic- and small-farmer movements in 2000 that continues today.

Why all the fuss? The world’s population is growing at an unprecedented rate, and determining how to feed everyone is essential to our survival—which Monsanto claims is one of its core goals. But detractors say that GMO crops are nutritionally inferior and hazardous to humans and the environment. Scientists mostly agree that genetic engineering is also leading to the growth of “super” weeds and pests that withstand not only Roundup but any pesticide.

Author Bret Frazer, on The Northern Light.org, explains why Monsanto is not just “bad” but “evil”: “Monsanto . . . epitomizes the undermining of democracy. Monsanto is an example of revolving door politics.” He points out that Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas worked as a Monsanto attorney in the 1970s. In 2001, Thomas wrote the majority opinion for J.E.M. Ag Supply, Inc. v. Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., which found that “newly developed plant breeds are patentable,” allowing GMO producers like Monsanto to make billions from generations of seeds and sue those farmers who did not abide by strict patent-protecting policies. Linda Fisher, Monsanto vice president from 1995 to 2000, was made deputy administrator of the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) in 2001. Michael Taylor was once employed by a law firm that lobbied for FDA approval of Monsanto’s artificial growth hormone. President Barack Obama reappointed him deputy commissioner of the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) in 2009. In “Why Is Monsanto Evil, but DuPont Isn’t?,” Stephen D. Simpson of The Motley Fool reports that when corporate lobbying “Monsanto does indeed spend millions . . . around $5 million or $6 million a year by most reports.” But it is certainly not the first major corporation whose executives have made the transition to the federal payroll.

But perhaps the most ire has been raised by Monsanto’s use of litigation to protect its patented crops and its perceived unfair influence within the very government that regulates its industry.

Monsanto has sued farmers, claiming they used its patented seeds without permission (sometimes the seeds in question were several generations removed from the original patented seeds). In 2013, a case taken all the way to the Supreme Court was resolved in favor of Monsanto when Indiana farmer Vernon Hugh Bowman was ordered to pay the company $84,000 for patent infringement.

But thanks in part to grassroots, social media-fueled movements, the legislative tide may turn against Monsanto. In 2014, Vermont passed a bill that mandates the labeling of GMO foods—so consumers can choose to eliminate GMO foods from their grocery carts—and other states may soon follow suit. It doesn’t take effect until July 2016, and lawsuits from the agriculture industry are expected to follow.

Simpson sees Monsanto’s business practices as par for the course. “Every crop science company works to protect its intellectual property, every crop science company looks to get a good price for its technology, and every crop science company opens its wallet to attempt to sway public and governmental opinion to their side—just as companies in technology, healthcare, banking and virtually every other industry do, and have done for decades.”

Whatever argument about Monsanto’s behavior sways you, it’s clear the company won’t be leaving the headlines—or our dinner tables—any time soon. As activists protest more loudly and Vermont and others heed their call, perhaps consumers will have greater purchasing power than ever before.

Case Questions

1. Describe how Monsanto became so powerful in the chemical and agricultural biotechnology industry.

2. Describe how Monsanto uses organizational power.

3. What sort of power do environmentalists and other activists hold in their fight against Monsanto’s policies? Where does it come from? How can they best use or increase their power?

4. Describe Monsanto as an example of revolving door politics and the way it gives the company additional organizational power.

Sources

Adams, Mike. “Monsanto Voted Most Evil Corporation of the Year by NaturalNews Readers.” NaturalNews.com. January 10, 2011. www.naturalnews.com/030967_Monsanto_evil.html##ixzz31WiamJFP.

Bunge, Jacob. “For Weed Control, Farmers Widen Their Arsenal of Herbicides.” Wall Street Journal. April 25, 2014. http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303847804579481641717350038.

Chatsko, Maxx. “Is Monsanto Company Wrong about Pest Resistance?” Motley Fool. April 18, 2014. www.fool.com/investing/general/2014/04/18/is-monsanto-company-wrong-about-pest-resistance.aspx.

Huff, Ethan A. “Monsanto Connected to At Least 200,000 Suicides in India throughout Past Decade.” Naturalnews.com. January 4, 2011. www.naturalnews.com/030913_Monsanto_suicides.html#.

Kresser, Chris. “Are GMOs Safe?” Chriskresser.com. n.d. chriskresser.com/are-gmos-safe.

Liptak, Adam. “Supreme Court Supports Monsanto in Seed-Replication Case.” New York Times. May 13, 2013. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/business/monsanto-victorious-in-genetic-seed-case.html?_r=0.

“Monsanto Named as a Top Company for Diversity.” Monsanto.com. April 24, 2014. news.monsanto.com/press-release/recognition/monsanto%C2%A0named%C2%A0as%C2%A0a%C2%A0top-company%C2%A0-diversity.

Philpott, Tom. “Chicken Nuggets, with a Side of Respiratory Distress.” Motherjones.com. April 30, 2014. www.motherjones.com/tom-philpott/2014/04/superweeds-arent-only-trouble-gmo-s.

Sheets, Connor Adams. “Monsanto Named 2013’s ‘Most Evil Corporation’ in New Poll.” International Business Times. June 10, 2013. www.ibtimes.com/monsanto-named-2013s-most-evil-corporation-new-poll-1300217.

Simpson, Stephen D. “Why Is Monsanto Evil, but DuPont Isn’t?” Investopedia.com. June 19, 2013. www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/061913/why-monsanto-evil-dupont-isnt.asp.

Smith, Jeffrey. “Monsanto Voted World’s Most Evil Corp Year after Year for Good Reasons.” RT.com. October 11, 2013. rt.com/op-edge/monsanto-technique-ruins-evolution-016.

Tong, Scott. “Monsanto: The Behemoth That Controls 90 Percent of Soybean Production.” Marketplace.org May 13, 2013. www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/monsanto-behemoth-controls-90-percent-soybean-production.

“USDA Creates New Government Certification for GMO-Free.” New York Times. May 14, 2015. www.nytimes.com/aponline/2015/05/14/us/politics/ap-us-genetically-modified-foods-labeling.html?_r=0.