A typical approach to business organization is to view corporations in a realist manner: that they are ultimately unified entities who exist solely for the development of profits. Hence, their structure and activities will be geared towards that and only that.
This is also called the “rational choice” model, that filters everything through the simplest and most quantifiable variable. Depending on the organization, it may be profits, security or votes. Either way, the organization in question is seen as an entity that is constantly seeking to expand and grow.Nevertheless, in the 20th century, such simplistic models have been challenged by researches who hold that companies in the private sector function in far more complex ways based on the nature of their structure, both internally, and, more importantly, in their functioning given the nature of the “market,” state and culture.
It is not so much that firms answer to the market, but that they create and structure it in various ways. If this is true, then firms cannot be considered merely economic machines, but also need to be viewed as cultural, ideological and political organizations with aims relative to these.The thesis here is that Archer Daniels Midland and like minded organizations seek to create a market rather than respond to it. This is done by influencing the state, ideological organizations and the newly emerging “global market.
”This paper will use a basic critical theory approach to analyze the activities of Archer Daniels Midland (ADM), a company tailor made for critical theory, since its activities cannot be understood in the simplistic, rational-choice approach. Hence, this paper will do several things:a. Provide an overview of ADM and its activities; b. Describe the basic organizational culture;c.
Approach ADM from a critical and dialectical point of view;d. Using ADM as a model for understanding the corporate structure as a political, cultural and ideological force.II. Archer Daniels MidlandADM is the world’s largest agricultural processing firm, recently doubled its size since the 1990s since they became a leader in the biofuel industry. Presently, their earnings have topped $500 billion. What makes ADM an interesting target for critical theory is that the firm has been involved in liberal politics, price fixing and cheerleading for globalization.
She has spent millions financing both sides in recent elections, and, as a result, is the recipient of billions in taxpayer subsidies and tax breaks.ADM specializes in food ingredients, and has placed a premium on transport and international distributing. Currently, they have 21,000 employees and 500 plants over 6 continents. ADM is the current leader in bio-fuel products and ethanol production. They specialize in extracting from soybeans, wheat, cocoa and oil seeds and creating enriched products it resells to customers. Since it really does not have a retail presence, she is largely invisible to the consumer.
The basic accomplishments of ADM since its founding in the early 1900s has been the “fadization” of the soybean and its products. In the 1990s, ADM financed a major campaign for its own soy products by creating an “anti-corporate” “ new-age” culture that say soy as an alternative for meat. It was ADM that created the faddish nature of the soybean in modern American culture.ADM grinds about 35% fo the globe’s cocoa, and hundreds of thousands of tons of other crops of a more staple nature. In general, they seek to extract whatever they can from the land in order to enrich foods with more protein.
Needless to say, they are at the forefront of genetic engineering of plants and animals.They have sought to genetically engineer wheat to yield fewer sugars and calories, they have created an edible bean product that enriches all foods with proteins. Of course, this is just the tip of the iceberg (ADM “Understanding ADM and Food, nd).
