Mattel And Toy Safety Paper
Mattel and Toy Safety
Bus 250
Prof. J. Reece
Amanda Wagoner
November 18, 2013
Mattel and Toy Safety Mattel is an American based toy manufacture that was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler. The company has been headquartered in El Segundo, California since it first opened. However, in 2007 the toy manufacture faced hard times when they had to do multiple recalls on their children's playthings due to unsafe parts and hazardous materials (such as lead paint) the company faced a stressful uphill climb to reassure their customers that not only where they a company worth trusting, but that they also provided safe toys for their children. Though out the course of this paper, using the case study, Mattel and Toy …show more content…
Due to the difference in the cost of labor between here and China by the 1990’s many companies had begun out sourcing much of their work to China and Mattel was no difference. However, the regulations for how toys and other products are made are far different in China than they are in America. For example, in America it is against federal regulations to use any paint that contains lead on any child’s play thing, where as in China they are still allowed to use lead based paints on children’s play. This is what created the majority of the problems for Mattel because some of their subcontractors did not want to follow the rules set in place by Mattel and cut corners to save money, the subcontractors decided to use a led based paint on many of the toys being shipped to the United States and other countries. Once Mattel caught wind of what had happened and learned that there could be a danger to children they acted quickly to inform the public, recall the toys, and offer either replacement toys or refunds (Lawrence & Webber, 2011). In the authors humble opinion the Mattel Company not only acted …show more content…
In fact, the Mattel Company did just that, they took full responsibility to the failure of their products from May to November of 2007. The Chairmen and CEO for Mattel, Robert Eckert is quoted saying, “ No system is perfect, there is no guarantee that we will not be here again.'' As a result of this massive recall by the Mattel Company, it forced not only Mattel, but also other toy companies to face the facts and evaluate the safety of their toys. Furthermore, the recall also made Mattel executives push more of their toys to be made in factories that they own and operate, instead subcontracting the work out (Story & Barboza,
Bus 250
Prof. J. Reece
Amanda Wagoner
November 18, 2013
Mattel and Toy Safety Mattel is an American based toy manufacture that was founded in 1945 by Harold "Matt" Matson and Elliot Handler. The company has been headquartered in El Segundo, California since it first opened. However, in 2007 the toy manufacture faced hard times when they had to do multiple recalls on their children's playthings due to unsafe parts and hazardous materials (such as lead paint) the company faced a stressful uphill climb to reassure their customers that not only where they a company worth trusting, but that they also provided safe toys for their children. Though out the course of this paper, using the case study, Mattel and Toy …show more content…
Due to the difference in the cost of labor between here and China by the 1990’s many companies had begun out sourcing much of their work to China and Mattel was no difference. However, the regulations for how toys and other products are made are far different in China than they are in America. For example, in America it is against federal regulations to use any paint that contains lead on any child’s play thing, where as in China they are still allowed to use lead based paints on children’s play. This is what created the majority of the problems for Mattel because some of their subcontractors did not want to follow the rules set in place by Mattel and cut corners to save money, the subcontractors decided to use a led based paint on many of the toys being shipped to the United States and other countries. Once Mattel caught wind of what had happened and learned that there could be a danger to children they acted quickly to inform the public, recall the toys, and offer either replacement toys or refunds (Lawrence & Webber, 2011). In the authors humble opinion the Mattel Company not only acted …show more content…
In fact, the Mattel Company did just that, they took full responsibility to the failure of their products from May to November of 2007. The Chairmen and CEO for Mattel, Robert Eckert is quoted saying, “ No system is perfect, there is no guarantee that we will not be here again.'' As a result of this massive recall by the Mattel Company, it forced not only Mattel, but also other toy companies to face the facts and evaluate the safety of their toys. Furthermore, the recall also made Mattel executives push more of their toys to be made in factories that they own and operate, instead subcontracting the work out (Story & Barboza,