Note the significant involvement of Forbes Magazine in the panel that made this award to Monsanto.
Forbes Magazine previously named the Monsanto-connected Kenyan scientist, Florence Wambugu, one of the key figures from around the world that were "reinventing the future" and showcased her claims for the Wambugu/Monsanto GM sweet potato project in Kenya. The project has subsequently been exposed as a complete failure with Wambugu's claims shown to have been both contrived and false.
The new award makes specific reference to the Monsanto plade and this of course is not the only award the company has won over its pledge to integrity, transparency and respect - see item 2
1.Monsanto Recognized as 'Best Multinational Company'
2.Monsanto recognised for lies, disinformation, PR chicanery and unfounded abuse
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1. Monsanto Company Recognized as 'Best Multinational Company' in First International Business Awards (SM)
Friday March 5, 11:53 am ET
Press Release Source: Monsanto Company
ST. LOUIS, March 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Monsanto Company has been named "Best Multinational Company" in the first International Business Awards(SM) competition. The International Business Awards are the first global, all-encompassing business awards program honoring great performances in the workplace. The company will receive a 2004 "Stevie(TM)" Award at a ceremony on March 22 in New York City.
The international awards, nicknamed the Stevies for the Greek word "crowned," will honor companies who exhibit excellence in leadership, innovation, teamwork and integrity, surpassing industry standards. The awards committee chose to honor Monsanto for projects that demonstrate the company's Monsanto Pledge principles at work from the development of new technologies to improve food production, to transparency of scientific data, to charitable contributions and sharing of technology for humanitarian applications globally.
Companies from across the globe were eligible to compete, including United States companies that generate more than 10 percent of their sales internationally. The 2004 awards attracted nearly 500 nominations from more than 30 countries.
"We are extremely honored to win such a prestigious award," said Hugh Grant, chairman, president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Monsanto. "Our company is guided by the Monsanto Pledge, which is our formal commitment to dialogue, transparency, respect, sharing of knowledge and technologies, and providing benefits to stakeholders. Winning a Stevie demonstrates the importance and effectiveness of our Pledge and our efforts to offer better crops and build stronger communities across the globe."
Members of the Stevie Awards' Board of Distinguished Judges & Advisors and their staffs, who selected the winners, included Rich Karlgaard, Publisher of Forbes Magazine; Bruce Nelson, Chairman & CEO of Office Depot; James Spanfeler, President and CEO, Forbes.com; and Donald Trump, Chairman and CEO of the Trump Organization among many other leaders and executives from around the world.
"We congratulate all finalists and winners of the first International Stevie Awards," said Michael Gallagher, founder and president of the Stevie Awards, the organization that runs the International Business Awards. "We look forward to honoring their stories of integrity, creativity, perseverance, humanity and profitability."
The awards ceremony will benefit the Global Business Coalition Against HIV/AIDS and BusinessTalk Radio Network will broadcast the event live via radio and the Internet.
"We thank our employees and stakeholders for this honor," added Grant. "It's their commitment to our Pledge and company that allows us to provide farmers with the tools they need to produce high-quality food, feed and fiber in ways that are cost-effective, safe and sustainable for a growing world."
Complete lists of international Stevie winners and other award details are available at www.stevieawards.com/iba .
Monsanto Company (NYSE: MON - News) is a leading global provider of technology- based solutions and agricultural products that improve farm productivity and food quality. For more information on Monsanto, see: www.monsanto.com .
The Stevies were created to honor and generate public recognition of the efforts, accomplishments and positive contributions o f companies and business people worldwide. Beginning with the introduction of The American Business Awards(SM) in 2002, and The International Business Awards(SM) in 2003, the organization's mission is to raise the profile of exemplary companies and individuals among the press, the business community and the general public.
Honoring companies of all types and sizes and the people behind them, the awards recognize outstanding leadership, innovation, perseverance, creativity, teamwork and integrity through more than 40 categories. Sponsors of the 2004 International Business Awards include BusinessDay, the BusinessTalk Radio Network, Clickmedios, Financial Times, Mundo Ejecutivo, Propaganda & Marketing, Selling Power Magazine and Semana Economica.
Source: Monsanto Company
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2.GM WATCH's "Pants on Fire!" Awards
PANTS ON FIRE HOT SHOTS OF 2002
The NEW Monsanto Corporation, up to its dirty old tricks again!
Over the last 2 years we have heard ad nauseam about the NEW Monsanto Corporation and its Pledge to integrity, transparency and respect. We were told the Pledge meant that, "We will act with integrity, courage, respect, candor, honesty, humility, and consistency," and that, "The Respect element of the new Pledge goes to the heart of virtually everything that everyone at Monsanto does on a daily basis".
In late 2002 an article in The Guardian revealed that "Andura Smetacek" - the principal "anonymous" e-mail attacker behind the campaign of character asssination against Berkeley scientist Ignacio Chapela over his Mexican maize research - had operated off an Internet Protocol address belonging to the Monsanto Corporation. "Smetacek" had posted around 50 such attacks on scientific and other critics of Monsanto - all of them during the period of the Pledge!
If covert poison pen attacks hardly smack of integrity, courage, respect, candor, or honesty, they can at least be put down to "consistency"! For "Andura Smetacek" was no lone assassin but part of a coporate communications strategy operating from Saint Louis to Johannesburg, from Manila to New Delhi. In short, throughout the period of the Pledge the company's corporate communicators have been engaged in a relentless dirty tricks campaign, often in association with its PR firm The Bivings Group.
How the Internet played a key part in the company's dirty tricks campaign was outlined in a talk to PR professionals by the company's former Chief Internet Strategist, Jay Byrne. Byrne concluded his talk on Monsanto's strategy with the following quote: "Think of the internet as a weapon on the table. Either you pick it up or your competitor does, but somebody is going to get killed".
So now we learn the meaning of "respect"!
Find out more:
The Covert Biotech War http://ngin.tripod.com/deceit07.html
Amaizing disgrace http://ngin.tripod.com/deceit2.html
Our commitment: Respect http://www.monsanto.com/monsanto/layout/our_commitments/respect.asp