The article in the url link below from BusinessWeek charts Monsanto’s journey from pariah status and potential economic oblivion to a corporate success story today (Issues: Research and Development, p130; Science and Technology, p264; Special Cases of CSR: GM Labeling, p293; Monsanto, p300):
“During the 12 months preceding [the current CEO] Grant's elevation, Monsanto's stock price fell nearly 50% to $8 a share. In 2002, the prior fiscal year, the company lost $1.7 billion. … Fewer than five years later, Monsanto is thriving. The St. Louis company's net income leaped 44% last year, to $993 million, on $8.5 billion in revenue. Monsanto shares, which closed at $104.81 on Dec. 5, have risen more than 1,000% during Grant's tenure.”
The main reason for the firm’s recovery, the article argues, is its decision to switch away from straight-to-market consumer GM foods to seeds that are used to grow key food ingredients for agribusiness, such as “animal feed, ethanol, and corn syrup.” Monsanto’s retreat from foods more likely to stoke consumer fears about the science behind genetic modification has enabled the firm to steer clear of the focus of activist groups and build a commanding market share:
“Today, more than 90% of the genetically modified seeds in the world are sold either by Monsanto or by competitors that license Monsanto genes in their own seeds.”
Take care
Dave
Bill Werther & David Chandler
Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
© Sage Publications, 2006
http://www.sagepub.com/Werther
Business Week Online
Insider Newsletter
December 07, 2007
********************
Monsanto: Winning the Ground War
How the company turned the tide in the battle over genetically modified crops
by Brian Hindo
http://newsletters.businessweek.com/c.asp?685460&c55a2ee820194f0f&3
