Mattel Inc

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.

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”.

Early in the 1960s, Mattel had made over $100 million in sales, due largely to Barbie (Woo). The company was based in Hawthorne, and annually made out new versions of Barbie as well as a huge wardrobe of outfits and accessories. Soon enough Barbie grew an exponentially amount of friends and family. Ken, named after the Handler's son, invented in 1961; Midge in 1963; Skipper in 1965; and African American doll Christie, Barbie's first ethnic friend, in 1969. The first black Barbie came much later, in 1981. In the 1970’s The National Organization for Women and other feminists targeted Barbie, arguing that the doll promoted unreachable expectations for young girls. If Barbie was 5 foot 6 instead of 11 1/ 2 inches tall, she would be the “perfect woman”. An academic expert once calculated that a woman's possibility of being shaped like Barbie was less than 1 in 100,000.

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 huge success of Barbie has a number of causes. First, Barbie is so popular because they make the public nostalgic. Many women had Barbie dolls when they were younger, and seeing that they are still high in demand and being advertised as much as they are brings back memories from childhood. Second, Barbie dolls are not a fad and they keep coming up with new ways to make them better and more entertaining. They do not die out, and Mattel creators find new ways to make sure of that. Lastly, they are popular because Barbie has so many different looks. Not only does Barbie have a variety of different ethnicities, but she also has many different styles. Barbie dresses up for numerous occasions and has countless jobs. Barbie shows young girls

a. Barbie debuted in New York at a toy fair, but surprisingly wasn’t an immediate success.

In fact, the Barbie doll was so popular that three years after her release in 1959 Mattel was still filling orders from her first year (Long 17).

Barbie, at the age of 41, is one of the longest living toys in America. Analyzing her early history can give a person a look into the societal trends and culture of the late 1950's and early 1960's. There is evidence of fashion innovations in Barbie's wardrobe. Also, one can see the perception of females by society, such as what they should look like, how they should act and dress, as well as what their future goals could be. The following essay follows Barbie's history from 1959 to 1963, covering her development, her appeal to children, and her existence as a cultural artifact of the time period.

In this paper I will analyze the case study of Mattel Inc. and their Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) and applying it to three different virtue ethics; fairness, honesty and justice. Then I will apply deontology, “always act in such a way that you can also will that the maxim of your action should become a universal law.

Another reason for the success of the Disney company was the commitment to being socially responsible. When companies are socially responsible, they understand that there is much more at stake than just what they want or need (Moussa, 2011). Companies have a responsibility to their workers, their community, and their planet. For too long, many companies ignored this. When companies started to change and become more responsible, it

Mattel, the world’s leading toy and children’s good manufacturer has cultivated a strong portfolio of well known brands and products while being recognized has a highly responsible corporate citizen that makes ethics and safety a priority. The company must build on its heritage, while defending itself from threats. At the same faced with maintaining its market position in the face of many changes in their target market.

It's not right to isolate children from the books, toys, and games that let them

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

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!  :