Monsanto Company Executive Summary

Over the past 20 years, Monsanto has grown and shifted focus from high-volume, commodity chemical products to becoming one of the world's leading producers of agricultural products. The firm has also developed a strong foothold in the human life sciences industry. This shift in business strategy has been the result of the culmination of many efforts to transform Monsanto into a global life sciences company. As a result of this transformation, the company has positioned itself as a dominant player in the agricultural products industry with hopes of continuing to grow its product portfolio within the pharmaceutical arena. In both areas, the company has ambitious long-term goals.
The process that Monsanto has undergone to become a life sciences company has proved to be very challenging. In the early stages, for instance, analysts questioned if Monsanto understood the difficulties in bringing new products onto the market. Although the company has made significant advances in its respective industries, it has been left with a very heavy debt load. This has a direct impact on the company's high debt-to-equity ratio. …