Barbie And Her Dream House Or Racing Hot Wheel Cars

Sales in Asia could help combat Mattel’s plateauing market in the United States. The company seemed like it was in a strong position.

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.

The corrective actions Mattel put into place November 1997, was called Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) (Sethi et al., 2011, p.483-483). It was the code that covered issues such as discrimination, age of employment, freedom of expression, wages and hours, and forced labor (Sethi et al., 2011, p. 491-495). The information below will share how Mattel used fairness, integrity, and truthfulness to create and implement this voluntary code of conduct.

In 2004, Mattel Inc. first filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court claiming that its former employee, Carter Bryant, violated copyright infringement and breach of contract. Mattel is widely known for their popular Barbie dolls and MGA Entertainment have their Bratz dolls, which were the popular modernized Barbie in the 2000’s. In 2008, a federal jury ruled in favor of Mattel because they believed Mr. Bryant developed the concept of the Bratz doll while working at Mattel, then leaving and pitching his idea to MGA (“Barbie”). Mattel was awarded $100 million, however, the verdict was appealed resulting in a retrial.

In 2009, Mattel opened Barbie’s first flagship store, House of Barbie, in Shanghai, China. Known as the ultimate Barbie dream house (Voigt, 2012), Mattel spent millions on setting up the most fashionable boutique where you could go to have all Barbie’s needs met for bot child and adult, to include dolls (Wang, 2012). Being that the boutique offered large quantities of products and services in variety, the company had a hard time deciding which product would catch on, how much consumers were willing to pay for the product and which ones to localize and the price of localizing in advance (Voigt, 2012). Mattel would eventually discover the magnitude of their mistakes would eventually overwhelm their ability to learn and adapt due to their dealings with too many parts moving in the dynamic yet unfamiliar market in China.. These mistakes caused them to eventually close doors two years later.

Since one child died and 12 were injured due to the result of them swallowing magnets I would not consider them as being socially responsible. I do feel they were acting ethical because after the recall the setup several new ways to notify customers incase of another recall and more inspections to check products before be shipped to the United States. I don’t believe a company of that caliber would do something intentional to harm kids who have purchased their products over decades. They outsourced their products because of the cheaper labor in other countries and wanted to provide a good profit for stakeholders. I sure they wouldn’t ruin their reputation if

Leaders are responsible for influencing followers to perform actions, complete tasks, and behave in certain manners. Effective leaders also influence processes, stimulate change in attitudes and values, and amplify empowerment and self-efficacy of their followers, as they foster the internalization of corporate vision. The nurturing aspect of leadership can also raise an organization’s culture and employee’s values to higher levels of ethical behavior. By demonstrating ethical leadership we promote a high level of integrity that stimulates a sense of trustworthiness, and encourages subordinates to accept and follow our vision (Mickey, 2013).

Ethical leaders espouse moral values, altruism, civic virtue, good citizenship behavior and conscientiousness both in their personal and professional lives. They imbibe the same core values in their followers. They demonstrate moral judgement in their decision making process, influenced by the long term interest of the stake holders. Also ethical leaders hold their followers accountable for their conduct and establish a reward and vicarious learning process for ethical conducts

The organization places a huge emphasis toward philanthropy through their charitable efforts. Toys”R”Us developed the Toys”R”Us Children’s fund in 1992 to protect children and deliver in times of need. The fund contributes millions of dollars each year to many qualified organizations who provide to children who are in crisis situations or children with special needs. For instance, First Candle, a regular recipient of these generous grants, is a non-profit organization that aids in safe pregnancies and keeping babies thriving through their first year of life. This organization alone has received over $165,000 from the Toys”R”Us Children’s fund in just the last 10 years.

Parents are turning to these toys for their children for a variety of reasons ranging from nostalgia to sustainability, as we explain in further detail in the following facts.

Ethics involve an individual's moral judgments concerning what is right and/or wrong. Individuals or groups of people are responsible for making decisions in an organization (shaw, 2008). Decisions within the organization are always emanate from the company's culture. However, the decision to act ethically and morally requires an individual judgment. Thus, members of staff are obligated to make decisions that reflect their right course of action (shaw, 2008). This involves rejecting the option that could lead to the greatest short-term gain. The leadership of most organizations stresses the need to adopt ethical behaviors and corporate social responsibility. Ethical dealings can earn the organization various benefits. For instance, it may attract more clients to the business thus boosting sales; employees could be motivated to stay longer in the organization thereby reducing recruitment expenditures. Ethical behaviors could also earn the business a favorable reputation that could attract investors. Categorically, a lack of social responsibility or unethical behavior may hurt the firm's reputation and scare away investors. Sales and profits could fall in the process.

In the contents of this case there are several management and safety issues and areas for improvement. One issue is Mattel, Inc.’s

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.

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?