Mattel Case Study Analysis

Continual change, vanishing distance and compressed time is what is driving the toy industry. It mentions in the case study that Hasbro is failing to adapt by being unable to make timely strategic decisions. Hasbro has dedicated too much of their resources in the television and movie sector only to abandon their successful board gaming business. (Coulter, 2013, p. 49) Our text expresses all organizations have to deal with change. (Coulter, 2013, p. 38) Mattel joining forces with an successfully established online company is only going to benefit them in Mattel’s structured transition.

An alternative strategy is for Mattel to expand into the technology market and add-on/re-innovate their existing product lines. Mattel has made many of the same products since it was established, with the exception of picture frames and doll furniture, which were short lived products. Barbie has changed a little bit, but other than that, the products have remained unaltered. In order to have a competitive advantage, Mattel needs to grow with the market. As of

Mattel, Inc has the vision of being the world’s premier toy brand, for the present and the future. It currently sells products in over 150 nations. The company was founded in 1945 by Harold Matson and Elliot Handler. It has gone to be 30,000 employees strong working in 43 countries. Mattel, Inc includes a number of toy brands such as Barbie, Fisher Price, Hot Wheels, American Girl, Tyco, and others. In 2008, the company was recognized by FORTUNE magazine as one of the “100 Best Companies to Work For”.

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

The Walt Disney Company is a diversified international entertainment company (Disney, 2010) with ownership of many media outlets including radio, cinema, television and literature as well as consumer products such as stationary and toys. The Disney brand has huge recognition globally especially in the category of children’s entertainment with over 80 years of productions in this sector. With an obvious predominance and market leadership in children’s entertainment and consumerism, The Disney Company has an unparalleled capability to reach

Mattel needs to work to rebuild their relationship not only with the North American Consumer, but with the Chinese manufacturing sector as well as governments who have spoken out against manufacturing in China. Mattel will have to specifically address the recall and accept their part of the blame for the design flaw, as well as some of the blame for the manufacturing issues. Mattel will also need to assure consumers and government that they are taking the necessary steps in future to ensure that a situation such as this does not arise again.

Mattel, the largest toy company based on revenues, is the manufacturer of Barbie, Hot Wheels, Matchbox cars and board games. Barbie dolls (Mattel’s flagship brand) were introduced in 1959. With these dolls attracting 7 to 12 year old girls, different varieties of Barbie dolls were released into the toy market. Mattel dominated the toy market till the late 1990s. But in 2001, when MGM’s Bratz dolls were introduced, the realistic look of these dolls attracted girls and they started abandoning Barbie dolls. Now Barbie faces stiff competition not only from Bratz but from Mattel’s own American Girl. Between 2001 and 2004, Barbie sales fell by 27.5% due to stiff competition from Bratz. MGM

To achieve this about 65 percent of its toy manufacturing was moved to Asia where its products could be produced cheaper. In doing so Mattel now has to work within the culture of its manufacturing facilities to ensure healthy and safe operations to its employees. This means that wage, possible child labor, and other ethical issues could arise, thus as stated before the Global Manufacturing Principles were created and implemented.

Mattel’s three largest customers are responsible for more than one third of the company’s revenue. With such a large portion of the company’s sales dependent on the these three customers any changes such as purchase reduction, favoring competitors or private label expansion, will have a significant impact on Mattel’s revenue. Also, with this limited customer base Mattel is hindered in with its ability to change prices.

1. no. 1-0013 Mattel, Inc: Vendor Operations in Asia Only 3% of the world’s children are here in the U.S. Our biggest opportunities are in growth outside the U.S. – Jill Barad President & CEO Mattel, Inc. The sun was just breaking over Kowloon Harbor. From his corner office, Ron Montalto gazed across the water and watched the early morning light reflect off Hong Kong’s famous downtown skyline. Only 24 hours ago Ron had been riding around the Carolina Speedway in Kyle Petty’s blue Pontiac, emblazoned with the Hot Wheels logo. The event was part of the kickoff for a new series of Hot Wheels® replicas of NASCAR racers. Now, back in Hong Kong questions still swirled around the sourcing

In 2111, Prof. Sethi and colleagues disclosed that Mattel Inc. had played a part in, what many would consider, unacceptable business practices (p. 483). Although Mattel took actions to investigate the level to which practices were truly occurring, they had also promised to remediate all noted unacceptable practices. One of the unacceptable business practices that was uncovered was the mandating of certain employee groups required to live in company dormitories and were not permitted to utilize any other options for housing. Was this practice a form of discrimination? In order to decide if the business practice and any alternatives are fair and ethical for all, resulting in the greatest amount of good for the greatest number of people, the scenario will be run through the EthicsOps.com’s Utility Test.

As the makers of children’s toys, Mattel has the ultimate responsibility to ensure that every toy is made within the tightest of safety standards. With the case of the Mattel toy recall, the company acted within the spectrum of their code of conduct that was titled Global Manufacturing Principles. Once the problem was identified, Mattel quickly addressed the issue, by automatically issuing the product recall and conducted a special investigation. The findings from the investigation led to other issues being found in Mattel toys. Once again, Mattel quickly responded with more product recalls, and a deeper investigation into the reasoning behind the faults. Through these actions Mattel did act in a socially responsible and ethical manner.

Moreover, the products were developed based on what the company believed the consumers wanted (O’Neill 2010). The group completely forgot one of the keys of success of every company, the customers and their needs.

Clearly  Mattel  did  not  have  sufficiently  tight  quality  control   procedures  in  its  supply  chain  to  compensate  for  the  extra   risks  of  outsourcing  to  relatively  new  Chinese   subcontractors.  Clearly  there  were  design  flaws  in  the  toys   with  the  magnets  that  could  come  loose.   But  Mattel  deserves  praise  for  now  stepping  up  to  its   responsibilities  as  the  leading  brand  in  the  toy  industry.   -­‐What  has  Mattel  done!  :

Mattel is one of the world’s biggest corporations in toy industry. In 2007, the company had a remarkable toy recalls relevant to its supply chain in a wide range of products: Cars, Barbie, Batman, Polly Pocket and Fisher-Price toys. The causes were determined by some compound problems in the process of designing, manufacturing, and distributing products, leading to mismanagement.