Mattel's China Experience: a Crisis in Toyland

RUNNING HEAD: Mattel’s China Experience a Crisis in Toyland

Unit #4 , Mattel’s China Experience, A Crisis in Toyland Case Study Analysis

Kaplan University

School of Business and Management

MT460 Management Policy and Strategy

Author: Patricia Hatcher

Professor: Darlene Ringhand

Date: January 8, 2012

Introduction

Mattel was founded in 1945 by Elliot and Ruth Handler along with Harold “Matt” Matson. The name Mattel was formed by combining Matson’s last name with Handler’s first name. Ill health forced Matson to sell his share. It started out as picture frame business. With the leftover wood and plastics Elliot Handler began making dollhouse furniture. Ruth formed a simple sales organization, and in its first year, they netted $30,000 (Mattel, Inc.). Their main focus was on the baby boom toy market. They eventually globalized their company, and one of the countries they chose was China; for the simple fact it was less costly.

Synopsis of the Situation

Mattel was an industry leader when it came to corporate responsibility. On product safety it states: “at Mattel, the safety of our toys is our number one priority” (Mattel, Inc. Corporate Responsibility). But this statement was tarnished when in 2007 it was discovered that lead were discovered in their toys, and the levels were in excess of U.S. federal toy safety. This spurred a large recall by Mattel. These toys were produced in factories in China.

Key Issues

With the issues in 2007 facing Mattel, the company was forced to recall over19 million toys that were made in China. Of these, 2.2 million were because of lead paint. The rest of the recalls were due to faulty design, the use of small magnets that could cause choking and internal injuries ( Teagarden, Mary B.). Mattel had been doing business with China for over 20 years and did not have any significant manufacturing- related safety issues.

Define the Problem

The problem was that Mattel had...