...The Mattel and the Toy Recalls integrative case poses six questions (four from the case and two from the professor) which will be addressed in this analysis. 1. What went wrong with Mattel’s recall strategy? The strategy used by Mattel in the toy recall was focused on passing the blame to China’s work practices and materials used. Mattel prematurely placed disproportionate blame on Chinese manufacturers and appeared defensive and somewhat fearful. In addition, the toy manufacture delayed reporting to the CPSC by a month and a half after they found out that the toys contained lead paint, even though the CPSC guidelines state that a re-call should be issued in 24 hours. 2. Who are Mattel’s stakeholders, who did Mattel cater to in the recall? Mattel’s stakeholders are the parents buying the toys, the retailers, the employees, the shareholders, management, China, business partners, CPSC, the government and third party contractors. The recall catered to the shareholders thus putting the bottom line ahead of the customer safety. 3. What values did Mattel exhibit during the recall? How did it affect Mattel? By waiting over a month to make a potential toy hazard public, Mattel evaded the truth. Even though a little late, Mattel did work with the CPSC to launch an external media blitz to alert the customers. Also the CEO of the company Robert Eckert apologized to parents in a video posted on website and expressed Mattel's emphasis on family when he spoke to parents from his perspective...
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...CASE: MATTEL AND TOY RECALLS Toy Industry Our presentation started with the industry introduction. Based on the case, toy industry was growing if we compared the results with the previous year. In 2007, the global toy market was around $71 billion business. Though 36% of the market was on the hands of North America, the growth pace was slower than Asia. Especially in China and India it was estimated that market would increase 25% more than previous year. The toy industry in USA had about 880 companies. Dominant players were Mattel, Hasbro, RC2, JAAKS Pacific, Marvel, and Lego. Moreover, big retailers were entering to the market under their own brand names creating threat for existing toy companies. Toy market categorized many segments in USA market, among them infant/preschool toy segment was the largest and stagnant. Noticeable growth occurred in youth electronics and video games. Production of the toys concentrated in China with 60%. Company Information Mattel, Inc. founded by Harold Matson and Elliot Handler at a garage in 1944. The company name was generated by using letters from founders’ last and first names. Mattel’s first products were picture frames and doll house furniture. Barbie doll was introduced in 1959 and Ken product followed it. With these products, Mattel guaranteed its growth. Hot Wheels product established Mattel’s position as an industry leader. Company’s products were organized in 3 different business groups: Mattel Girls & Boys Brands, Fisher Price...
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...MATTEL TOYS RECALL CASE STUDY Product recall: On August 14, 2007, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) in cooperation with Mattel announced five different recalls of Mattel's toys. On September 4, Mattel announced three more recalls. Some were due to the use of lead paint, while others were due to small magnets coming loose. On August 2, 2007, Mattel's Fisher-‐Price subsidiary recalled almost one million Chinese-‐made toys, including the famous cartoon brands amongst kids:Dora the Explorer and Sesame Street toys, because of potential hazards from parts of the toys which were colored using lead-‐based paint that may have exceeded the US Federal limit of 600 parts per million. Q1. What should the country do to polish its image? -‐First, the central government must ensure that manufacturing quality standards and health and safety laws are tightened and enforced nationwide. Western multinationals...
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...Outsourcing may also enable companies to have access to resources and technology, which may be not have been available locally. Furthermore, expertise in risk management, financial management, and other fields can be contracted through outsourcing. As far as Mattel is concerned, the key motivation for outsourcing is to have access to cheap labor, reducing manufacturing cost significantly. Causes of Mattel’s Recall Problem There are three main causes for Mattel’s toy recall: manufacturing problems which refers to the use of lead paint by Chinese manufacturers; design problem as a result of increasing use of small, powerful magnets that have the risk to be swallowed by children if detached, and; product misuse by young creative children which may cause potential danger to them. Among those three reasons, only manufacturing problems are potentially the result of outsourcing. The design and product misuse issues were not the responsibility of contract manufacturers. Outsourcing Pitfalls While outsourcing can reduce costs for companies, it can also give rise to a series of problems if those companies fail to see a clear picture of their outsourcing partners and fail to identify all the possible pitfalls. Specifically for Mattel, the Chinese toy manufacturer gained their competitive advantages by achieving low costs. However, since they were facing pressures both from tremendous negotiating power of large manufacturers such as Wal-Mart and the monetary policy change that...
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...execution as minor mistakes can lead to loss of millions of sales value. Just imagine within short period of time toy manufacturers have to produce millions of toys. This requires good management of supplies and synchronization between supplies and production as to minimize costs and ensuring efficiency. Not to forget issues of quality management and lastly the impacts or magnitude of logistic management to the toy manufacturers. 2. Stiff Competition Basically the toy industry consists of many players. As stated in the case, there are 880 companies operated in the industry in 2002. This is 10% lesser than 1997. There are few Key players in the industry such as Mattel, Hasbro, RC2, JAAKS Pacific, Marvel and Lego. In term of sales only two companies managed to register USD1 billion marks, the company are, Mattel and Hasbro. The combined sales of this two company reached USD8.7 billion. There are many players competing for the same market. Throughout time small companies have close their business or have been taken over by bigger player. Meaning we can see the industry moving towards consolidation mode due to stiff competition among the players. In fact among the industry leaders, in...
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...Coffee Barometer 2014 Sjoerd Panhuysen & Joost Pierrot 13 / ha India 5 mio Vietnam 22 mio bags 40 bags / ha 10 / ha Ethiopia 6 mio 7 Indonesia 13 mio bags 1 Hivos IUCN Nederland Oxfam Novib Solidaridad WWF Content 2 1 Introduction Coffee, cultivated in more than 80 countries in Central and South America, Africa and Asia, ranks among the world’s most valuable agricultural commodities. Coffee cultivation provides livelihoods for 20-25 million farming families [4]; and engages over 100 million people in its producing and processing. Smallholder coffee farmers, together with their families and rural workers produce over 70 per cent of this labour intensive crop. Women comprise half the productive workforce and play a crucial role that often goes unnoticed. However, to retain the involvement of rural youth is a challenge as they often aspire to a different future and seek employment outside the coffee sector. Historically, declining terms of trade and price volatility have plagued coffee production. This makes poverty reduction, which is essential to ensure the sustainability of the sector, both an important and difficult challenge. Figure 3 presents an overview of the main social, economic and environmental challenges for smallholders and plantation labourers. These problems at the production level are compounded by the effects of changing climatic conditions. The International Coffee Organization [9] acknowledges that the world coffee sector is facing major challenges...
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...Mattel Recalls 2007 Communication Implications for Quality Control, Outsourcing, and Consumer Relations [ABSTRACT] In August 2007, America's largest toy manufacturer announced the first of what would become five recalls involving 21 million toys—most of which were manufactured in China. This case study and teaching note examine a corporate response to a global crisis and consider the unique communications challenges facing a corporation that operates in an international, crosscultural arena. The teaching note critiques the response’s suitability to the level and impact of the crisis and recommends alternatives. It illustrates that communicators should be cognizant of their international stakeholders and should proactively manage global issues of public concern such as outsourcing and product safety. An example would be that to avert future recalls, Mattel should work closely with its Chinese suppliers and government agencies to implement realistic quality control solutions for which it can be held accountable. The company must reassure stakeholders that outsourcing to China does not mean sacrificing quality. Regaining consumer confidence and controlling the dissemination of product safety information requires strong corporate communicators who can delicately and deliberately balance complex relationships. Table of Contents I. Case Study 1. Overview 2. Company History 2.1 Beginnings 2.2 Reorganization as Mattel, Inc. 2.3 Products 2.4 Accolades for Ethics 2.5 Financial Performance...
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...This case is about the recalls of 2007 by Mattel Toys produced in China due to lead found in paint used to produce the toys and due to loose magnets that could cause serious injury to children if ingested. Mattel blamed the lead paint problem on its Chinese suppliers who had subcontracted with other suppliers. The media storm around the recalls caused a loss of consumer confidence in the “Made in China” brand. Chinese officials felt that Mattel unfairly blamed Chinese suppliers for all the recall problems when in fact, the lead issue was relatively small and the remainder of the recalls was due to design problems over which the Chinese suppliers had no control. They were merely producing the products Mattel had designed in the U.S. and had no control over the design process. Evaluate Alternatives Mattel seems to have lost touch with some of the links in its supply chain for the lead paint related toys and there was a lack of enforcement if the suppliers didn’t follow Mattel’s rules. Some Chinese suppliers also subcontracted to other suppliers who also did not comply with Mattel requirements and Mattel wasn’t aware of the subcontracting. For example, Lee Der was a high quality, trusted manufacturing company which had worked exclusively for Mattel since its founding. Lee Der’s paint supplier was Dongxing New Energy, owned by a best friend of Lee Der’s deputy chair, Chueng. Dongxing was not on the approved supplier list for Mattel and Mattel had not noticed this fact...
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...Mattel, Inc: The Lead Paint Recall Ron Montalto tossed the newspaper onto a growing pile. The Sept 22, 2007 Wall Street Journal headline read “Mattel Seeks to Placate China With Apology.” The headlines in the stack of papers told the story: Mattel Announces Third Toy Recall – CNN Money (Sept 5, 2007) Mattel Does Damage Control After New Recall - Wall Street Journal (Aug 15, 2007) Owner of Chinese Toy Factory Commits Suicide – New York Times (Aug 14, 2007) Lead Paint Prompts Mattel to Recall 967,000 Toys– New York Times (Aug 2, 2007) The worldwide news coverage had been intense. Robert Eckert, Mattel’s CEO, had led the news on both morning and evening TV broadcasts, staring directly into the camera and apologizing for Mattel’s failure, while promising to take immediate steps to improve quality. Mattel had also launched a recall website that received millions of visitors and was later referred to as a model of excellence (see Exhibit 1). Corporate communication experts had given Mattel and Eckert high marks for the handling of the crisis. Yet Montalto, a long-term Mattel China veteran, still couldn’t grasp how it had all come to this. Ironically, the bottom paper in the stack headlined “Toymaking in China, Mattel’s Way” heralded Mattel’s decades of success operating in China and was published just days before the initial recall (New York Times July 26, 2007 – see Exhibit 2 for full press list and links). Montalto reflected on key sourcing decisions made nearly...
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...Unit 4 Mattel’s China Experience Case Study Analysis MT460 Management Policy and Strategy Professor: Dr. Margery Mayer Date: June 18, 2011 In 1944, based in California, Ruth and Elliot Handler founded Mattel after World War II. In the 1950’s, Mattel start advertising on Mickey Mouse Club with their core product being Barbie. Barbie was named after their daughter Barbara’s nickname. In the 1960, Mattel became publicly owned and in 1965, their sales top $100 million the company now qualified as a Fortune 500 company. Mattel is engaged in designing, manufacturing, and marketing of toys and family products across the world. The company's key global brands include Barbie, Hot Wheels, American Girl, and Fisher-Price. The company operates in the Americas, Asia Pacific, and Europe. It is headquartered in El Segundo, California and employs 27,000 people. (xplosivestocks.com) The start or recovery from damage done to the well-known brand due to recalls. After paying $40 million dollars in recalls for more than 19 million toys in China, Mattel was in a crisis. Their stock was dropping, lawsuits, media attacks, lost sales, and increased expense of litigation cost. Mattel was now suffering from a tarnished brand name and customer loyalty. Mattel’s challenges included convincing parents that child safety and product safety is more important that revenue, form an alliance with Chinese suppliers and the government to create honorable quality control solutions, improve...
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...and founded the Mattel Brand. They started out simple with a few essential toys such as Barbie and Hot Wheels. The reception was great and their brand of product took off in the toy market. Throughout the years, the Mattel Company saw profits along with facing many hardships. Management changes brought uncertainty and even more hard times to the company as the world’s focus shifted to the quality and safety of products (Teagarden, 2008). Oversight and poor follow-up with Mattel’s overseas Chinese plants and company designs brought this once respectful top of the market toy manufacture to be looked upon in a negative manner amongst their consumers. Mattel’s Recall of Toys from China and Store Shelves July 13, 2007, Jim Walter, Senior Vice President of Mattel’s worldwide quality assurance, brought disturbing news to Bob Echert the CEO of Mattel at the time. After a customary inspection of the Sarge die-cast toy car in Europe, they had found above federal standard levels of lead in the paint of the car (Teagarden, 2008). Bob Echert new trouble was ahead for the company, but had no idea the enormous effect it would have. The Sarge toy car was just the start of the problems that Mattel would face that year. After further company investigation by Mattel, they found that not only was there problems with the paint, but by poor designs that other toys had choking potential for children. Millions of toys were set to be recalled by Mattel. Mattel found the following...
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...Daniels Fund Ethics Initiative University of New Mexico http://danielsethics.mgt.unm.edu Mattel Responds to Ethical Challenges INTRODUCTION Mattel, Inc. is a global leader in designing and manufacturing toys and family products. Well-known for brands such as Barbie, Fisher-Price, Disney, Hot Wheels, Matchbox, Tyco, Cabbage Patch Kids, and board games, the company boasts nearly $5.9 billion in annual revenue. Headquartered in El Segundo, California, with offices across the world, Mattel markets its products in over 150 nations. It all started in a California garage workshop when Ruth and Elliot Handler and Matt Matson founded Mattel in 1945. The company started out making picture frames, but the founders soon recognized the profitability of the toy industry and switched their emphasis to toys. Mattel became a publicly owned company in 1960, with sales exceeding $100 million by 1965. Over the next forty years, Mattel went on to become the world’s largest toy company in terms of revenue. In spite of its overall success, Mattel has had its share of losses over its history. During the mid to late 1990s, Mattel lost millions to declining sales and bad business acquisitions. In January 1997, Jill Barad took over as Mattel’s CEO. Barad’s management-style was characterized as strict and her tenure at the helm proved challenging for many employees. While Barad had been successful in building the Barbie brand to $2 billion by the end of the 20th century, growth slowed in the early 21st...
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... 2014 Case Study 5: Mattel & Consumer Protection In 2007, Mattel, a global leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of toys, issued a voluntary recall of 1.5 million Chinese-made toys. A majority of as a result of such carelessness, children’s health and safety were at great risk due to poor toy design, such as loose magnets, and substituting lead free paint for a fatal amount of lead paint on Mattel’s toys to cut corners and save money. As consumers we are naive to believe that boards of directors and higher management in manufacturing companies are highly concerned with our safety. In reality, Mattel has a serious lack of crisis management as well as failing to meet proper safety procedures violating consumers right to safety. As a result millions of children are in harm’s way and are susceptible to life-altering health risks. Having a lack of regulation on imported toys has resulted in high levels of lead paint and loose magnets. Government regulation or a lack of government regulation has also caused many companies aside from Mattel to cut corners and look more at the bottom line as opposed to the safety of consumers. According to Lawrence and Weber, stakeholder theory “argues that corporations serve a broad public purpose; to create value for society”. It can be assumed Mattel was acting unethically with regards to producing unsafe products for their consumers; as a result, devaluing our society in terms of safety. Within the Mattel case the primary stakeholders...
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...INDIVIDUAL CASE STUDY PRESENTATION ON MATTEL This is an ‘open-book’ presentation that is designed to assess your ability to apply the essential theories, principles and techniques of supply chain and operations management to a realistic business situation. The questions will draw on material from the other modules in the MSc Supply Chain Management programme. You will be expected to demonstrate your knowledge and understanding of relevant theoretical principles, concepts and techniques; to apply these appropriately to the particular situation described in the case study and; above all, to make sound decisions. You will not gain marks by presenting a general essay on the topic. Please note that all work should be your own. Copying or plagiarism will not be tolerated and could result in no marks being awarded. If quotes or short extracts are used they should be attributed or the source of the information identified. Play Fair The core values of Mattel, the world’s largest, branded toy manufacturer, appeared on its company website, and on its literature, under the heading ‘Play Fair’: “Act with unwavering integrity on all occasions. Treat each other with respect and dignity. Trust each other to make the right decisions. Be accountable for all that passes in front of us.” In 2007 these values would be put to the test as never before, when it was discovered that substantial numbers of Mattel branded toys had been contaminated with lead paint with global signature...
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...Executive Summary Mattel, Inc is the world’s largest toy manufacturer product line includes such household names as Fisher-Price, Matchbox and of course Barbie dolls. The company was founded in 1945 and has grown remarkably since with global revenue approaching $6 billion per annum and counting on 31,000 employees to fulfill the toy needs of millions of children. Mattel began their initial Corporate Social Responsibility program when the idea was still in its infancy for many companies back in 1997; they released their first GRI (Global Reporting Initiative) in 2003 and have done so annually since. In the summer of 2007 the company went through a social responsibility media nightmare after the revelations that various toys in their product line exceeded the safety levels for lead which resulted in the recall of over 18,000,000 products. At the time it was a huge story that naturally impacted the company in a negative way but if there is a silver lining it would be that the company has subsequently fully revamped their testing and auditing processes for all manufacturing. The company’s more robust position in 2011 demonstrates that huge business mistakes can be overcome if lessons are learned, which appears to be the case for Mattel. Introduction Mattel, Inc. was founded in 1945 by Ruth and Elliot Handler and Matt Matson. The company had its headquarter in El Segundo, California and was well-known in the world as the leader in the design, manufacture, and marketing of family...
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