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
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Kimberly Tucker, Chris Salt, Ashley Solomon Case 7: Mattel: Overcoming Marketing and Manufacturing Challenges 11/01/2010 Marketing Management 6800 Section 004 The Problem: The problem surrounding Mattel Inc., one of the world’s largest toy companies, is their mismanagement of international subcontractors and vendors and the production of certain toys (the manufacturing process), as well as their inability to adapt their marketing strategy or product to the constantly changing “demographic
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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;
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Elliot and Ruth Handler decided to capitalize on the big baby boom that World War II had caused. They went after the toy market 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
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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
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What are the opportunities and threats that Mattel faces as it looks ahead? SWOT Analysis is a useful technique for understanding your Strengths and Weaknesses, and for identifying both the Opportunities open to you and the Threats you face. The SWOT analysis below is to understand the areas of improvement for Mattel while analysing its strengths. Also, to maximize the opportunities it has and minimize the threats. SWOT for Mattel Strengths Still a market leader- although it is true that the
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recognize that trust is earned. —Robert Eckert, CEO of Mattel, Inc.1 On August 2, 2007, Mattel announced a voluntary worldwide recall of 83 products in its Fisher- Price toy lines, including characters such as Dora the Explorer, and the Big Bird and Elmo characters from Sesame Street. The recall, which applied to approximately 1.5 million toys sold worldwide after May 1, 2007, was due to the use of excessive lead paint.2 Over the next month, Mattel announced six more recalls that covered toys with
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that occurred in the middle of August 2007 was another disaster where children swallowed small magnet pieces on many of Mattel’s toys which caused one death and 19 injuries. With both crises combined, Mattel recalled over 19 million toys; 1.5 million from the lead paint incident. On June 8, 2007, Mattel was told that there was lead in the toys’ paint that violated the Lead Poisoning Prevention Act of 1971. The CEO ordered an investigation in China which lead to the cancellation of the licenses of two
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Rather than write a straight history of Mattel, Oppenheimer focuses on the outsize personalities that helped form and shape it. The expose opens with an eye-scorching description of the sexual exploits perpetrated in the Playboy Mansion-esque home of early Mattel contract designer Jack Ryan, whom Oppenheimer calls the "Father of Barbie." Oppenheimer indicates that Ryan's personal obsession with the female form figured prominently in the tiny-waisted, long-legged, buxom shape of Barbie. Ryan applied
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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
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