Ethical Incident Market Expansion

Globalization has created opportunities for many companies and your organization is no exception. Markets have opened up in many places outside of your home country and advancement in technology has made it relatively easy to reach those countries.

You are a product manager for a seed technology company that produces genetically modified seedlings for many agricultural food products that result in high yield for farmers. Your company is a large organization, with a dominant presence in a relatively large metropolitan area. Your company has done very well financially in your home country for the last five decades or more. Recently, your company is facing some push back from end use customers and environmentalists within the country. Many of the end use customers believe that despite the high yield for farmers who use your seedlings, there are some major health concerns for those consuming the products. In addition, local environmentalist are of the opinion that water consumption by farmers that use your seedlings is fast becoming a threat to the water supply in many regions where your products are sold. In fact some of the activists are petitioning many municipalities to issue a restraining order that will prohibit the sale of your seedlings. As to be expected your company has defended the efficiency of its products claiming that there is no proof that they harm anyone. As the product manager , you strongly believe your products are safe, but you know that the veracity of that claim has not been tested. Your company further argues that the seedlings produced by your company do not consume more water than other seeds that farmers use. Your company further argues that if there is a prohibition in producing and selling the seedlings, the employment status of many of the employees in your company will be jeopardized, which will likely have a domino effect across the regional economy. Many large farmers that buy your products like them since high yields translate to more profit. On the other hand, the growing small group of farmers that run "organic Farms" are opposed to the sale of your seedlings. At the last count, there are three pending lawsuits against your company. There is some sense that you are already losing in the court of public opinion.

Amid these conflicting demands in your home country, there seems to be an opportunity for your company to expand overseas. Recently your company has been approached by a small company from a relatively poor country in Latin America interested in your seedlings. Your preliminary analysis of the market in this foreign country suggests a very promising market with huge profit potential for your organization. The regulatory oversight in the new market is almost non-existent, in fact that seems to be the case in most of the Latin American region. It will be a relatively easy market to enter, with less regulation compared to your home country. Farmers in this region are mostly small scale farmers that will not be in a position to afford your company's products. The few company owned large scale farms that will buy your products will most likely displace the small farmers, exacerbating the unemployment problems, especially in rural areas.

You have been tasked by the CEO of your company to make recommendations of whether your company should pursue the new opportunities in the foreign markets. As you consider what recommendations to make, several unresolved issues come to your mind. It is Friday afternoon , and you have a meeting with your CEO on Monday morning, what recommendations are you going to make, what issues have to be considered. You know that the pressures in your home market are not going away.