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Monsanto Case

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When Monsanto decided to introduce its genetically modified soybeans to Europe, they were faced with numerous uncontrollable forces in which they had to contend. Monsanto had little opposition to the product in the US. Consumers were indifferent to the technology and for the most part, embraced it. With this success, they assumed that the sentiment would be shared internationally. After all, Monsanto had good intentions. They had aspirations to reduce pesticide use and subside world hunger. Despite these intentions, they failed to realize that foreign environments have differing values and can be difficult to assess especially regarding political, legal and cross-cultural differences. Ultimately the product was not accepted in Europe mostly out of concern for food safety.

It is important to analyze and understand the forces they were faced with to have a sense of why Monsanto failed. Monsanto failed in Europe for two main reasons. The first (outside of Monsanto’s control) was the recent outbreak of Mad Cow disease linked to British Beef, yet downplayed by the government. This event just so happened to coincide with the introduction of the genetically modified soybeans. There had been a loss of trust in government and food safety. We can refer to uncertainty avoidance in Hofstede’s four dimensions model to understand this further. Many European countries rank high in uncertainty avoidance and are risk averse. Members of this type of society have high anxiety levels about unknown or ambiguous situations. The consumers did not trust the product, mostly because they didn’t understand it. Secondly, Monsanto underestimated the power that NGO’s have on the public. NGO’s such as Greenpeace had a strong opposition to GM food technology and were able to persuade public opinion through media and political channels. NGO’s are often viewed to have the

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