Mattel Toy Recall

Culture and Organization | Mattel and the Toy Recalls | Responding to recall notice of Mattel’s character toys for lead paint violations |

Paulina Gorczyca9/26/2011 |

Mattel’s Toy Recall

The toy industry is estimated to be a 71 billion dollar market in 2007 (pg.167) with approximately 880 competitive companies with its clear industry leaders. Mattel being number one toy making company in the world has been faced with several conflicts due to the industries strict jurisdiction under the Consumer Product Safety Commission. It is necessary for toy companies to have great control over the safety features of the their products as the users are small children who are not yet capable of making educated decisions when it comes to
The company has gained and continued to build consumer trust and a positive image in the toy market, and therefore a recall was necessary procedure in the nature of the conflict in regards to the lead content. Undeniably the core problem of the issue was the long supply chain and the difference in cultural profiles of Mattel versus its supplying vendors in China. Although Mattel as well as it Chinese suppliers have a weak uncertainty avoidance they do differ though power distance. Mattel’s organization has many managers for its several different segments and by having the power distributed evenly they are capable of producing a more consistent performance. In china the power distance is very high, separating a definite authority figure from the work force, causing difficulties in the span of
The company should take a proactive approach to consumer complaints and quickly enforce the recall after the data has proven the excess lead in the released toys. Toys to be recalled are the small toy figures from children’s favourite TV shows produced by the Lee Der manufacturing company. The notification should be posted within the stores that carried the above product and streaming should be avoided in major media content such as kid’s magazines or commercials. Having the message posted at the place of purchase will assure that the recall has taken place and the unsafe merchandise has been removed from the stores and is no longer available for sale. The notice should include the customer’s right to return or exchange their product at the location of purchase with full reimbursement. Although as mentioned above the recall should not be loudly published as it will further damage the confidence of Mattel’s consumers. Having a flashy message all over the media could sink in too deeply for the