Based in California, Mattel, Inc. designed, manufactured, and marketed a broad variety of toy products. The company’s core product lines included Barbie fashion dolls, Hot Wheels die- cast vehicles, Fisher-Price preschool toys along with Disney toys and games like Scrabble (Johnson, 2010). Summer of 2007, Mattel, a global leader in toy manufacturing was faced with a tough challenge of restoring their consumer confidence following several recalls of their toys made in China. Mattel known for possessing the gold standard of testing and safety of its products came under scrutiny for several infractions with their toys. One of which had unacceptable lead levels in the paint and another contained a magnet that could un-attach and …show more content…
If Mattel decided on a voluntary recall, it would be faster and could be coordinated with the consumer product safety commission (CPSC) (Baron, 2013). This voluntary recall would seem like an admission of fault and that Mattel chooses to do the right thing for the safety and the health of its consumers. If Mattel chooses to wait for the CPSC to decide to recall the toys it would be a longer wait. The CPSC was understaffed and was required to satisfy procedural requirements before it could order a recall. This delay could continue to produce revenue for Mattel, but the new media would surely broadcast the timeline no doughtily portraying Mattel as more concerned over bottom-line than child safety. The right decision that Mattel must make is imperative to the reputation of the company.
The Decision and Aftermath Mattel chose an ethical course of action. Mattel decided to voluntarily recall the toys but delayed the recall until it could put up a Web site with information for retailers and consumers about how to return the products (Baron, 2013). The majority of the toys in the recall had not yet hit the shelves for sale. This was a good thing for Mattel and consumers. The recall covered more toys than needed to err on the side of caution. Mattel also announced that it was reviewing its procedures for ensuring product safety. Robert Eckert, CEO announced, “We apologize to everyone affected by this recall, especially those who bought the toys in question.
According to FDA.gov 2009, the definition of recalls is, an action taken by a company to remove a product from shelves. There are three classes of recalls and two other types of recalls mentioned on FDA.gov. Class I recall involves a situation in which there is a probability that the use of or exposure to a product will cause adverse health effects or death. (FDA, 2009) Class II recall involves a situation in which use of or exposure to a product can cause temporary or medically reversible adverse health consequences or where the probability of serious adverse health effects is remote. (FDA, 2009) Class III recall involves a situation in which use of or exposure to a product is not likely to cause adverse health consequences. (FDA, 2009) Market
Mattel has created a successful business in the toy industry. Starting out in a garage, building picture frames and moving into children's toys, has allowed them to become a global leader in their field. They grew their company very quickly, but as with any business, times change and forces organizations to grow with the cultural. Competition has increased the need to be more versatile with their technology and make strides to stay ahead of others in their field.
Many times these products needs to be recalled as they do not meet the safety standards and tend to hurt the image of a well-known organization like Mattel. Therefore, Mattel’s strategy was to focus on making most of its core products at their own manufacturing facilities, and outsource the products that are less popular and non-core.
1. The decision facing Mattel is whether to continue to produce their products internationally where cost are low, or produce them in the United States where costs are significantly higher but quality is better. Mattel might want to even reconsider going global if there sales are decreasing more internationally than in the United States. Mattel needs to determine how many of the products produced internationally were recalled versus the amount of products produced in the United States that were recalled. Mattel also needs to decide how they are going to advertise their products in a way that will convince consumers in the external environment to buy their products, without having any
Mattel is a global toy company that has been around since 1949. They are the company that introduced Barbie and Hot Wheels to the world as well as many others toys. Mattel has license agreements with Walt Disney and Nickelodeon. In
Here the company under consideration is “Toy R US”. This company facing few major current issues which are effecting the PR of the company as well as effecting the business of the company. Toy R US is a famous brand which makes toys for the kids, it has branches in many countries which makes it an international company. This company made its strong market position in just a decade, before that this was not much famous among customers. Company’s mission is about providing affordable toys all over the world so those
In the past four years, Mattel has had to recall nearly 30 million of toys due to safety concerns such as lead level in paint, magnets and dangerous toy parts or design.
Through studying the entire retail toy industry, we have been able to understand the complexity of the industry in which Toys "R" Us operates. Upon completion of the analysis, we realized that the industry is growing stably,
The problem surrounding Mattel Inc. 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 and socioeconomic trends.” This is supported by Mattel’s legal battle with Carter Bryant and MGA, their forced recall of certain toys that were manufactured overseas, and the increasing rate at which traditional toys are becoming less appealing to today’s young audience. Essentially, Mattel’s mismanagement and oversight lead to violations in terms of ethical and social responsibilities and safety standards.
Others felt that they should consider Indonesia as a way to take advantage of low labor costs and very attractive exchange rates. Mattel currently operated a plant in Indonesia that produced Barbie® dolls. Montalto had to decide whether Mattel should go forward with the new China plant, build a plant in Malaysia or Indonesia, expand one of the existing facilities, or outsource the surplus die-cast volume through VOA. Company Background Based in California, Mattel, Inc designed, manufactured, and marketed a broad variety of toy products. The company’s core product lines included Barbie fashion dolls, Hot Wheels die- cast toy vehicles, Cabbage Patch Kids, Fisher-Price preschool toys, and Disney toys. Most of these toys were made overseas, primarily in southeast Asia. Mattel had wholly owned manufacturing facilities in China, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mexico, and Italy. Mattel was founded in 1944 by Elliot and Ruth Handler. Neither Elliot nor Ruth had much business experience or capital, but they both had dreams. The post World War II demographics of a huge baby boom plus a virtually toyless marketplace provided a unique opportunity to gain a place in a growing toy market. Mattel’s first products, simple picture frames and doll house furniture, met with mixed success. The first really big hit was a music box. By partnering with another toy inventor, they developed a music box that could be
1. Do you believe that Mattel acted in a socially responsible and ethical manner with regard to the safety of its toys? Why or Why not? What should or could Mattel have done differently, if anything?
Mattel Toy Company is a multinational organization headquartered in El Segundo, California. This company deals with the manufacturing of toys such as dolls, toys, board games among others. Founded in 1945 and since, it has been in the children’s entertainment industry where it has indicated a lot of advancement in all its sectors across the countries it is operating in furthering the help of its strategy that has met the demands of its customers (Syed, 2014).
Toy Safety is an area where a lot of parents and daycare development center should think critically about. It is extremely important, without it numerous of children would be in harm on a day to day basics. Toy Safety is a consideration of toys that you should examine the toys safely before giving the toy to the child. It is not just looking at the label of the toy and the age range it is more to that, it is a safety factor and not the advancement in the toy. (“Kidshealth”). If, toy safety was not put into place it would cause danger to the children. A lot of accidents would have been avoid if the parents took more time to exam the toys before giving the toy to the child. Data was collected stating in 2011, 188,400 children have been to
Much of Mattel 's success comes from its strong branding. From the 1959 introduction of the Barbie Doll® to the introduction of Hot Wheels® in 1968, Mattel was destined to be an industry leader. Barbie® was a
What is a crisis management? It is an unexpected crisis that happens on the company that will affect the trust and loyalty of the stakeholder. It can be extremely costly because it will affect the company reputation and brand. For example like financial failure from poor business management, workplace violence, fires, cybercrime, computer viruses, product tampering or union strikes and other external issue like damaged economy that causes from London bombings, terrorists attacks on 11 September and others. The SHRM 2005 report indicates that only 56% organizations created or revised their disaster preparedness plans but 45% did not after the terrorist attacked on