MATTEL TOYS RECALL

MATTEL TOYS RECALL

Kashif Iftikhar 4886Shehla Ajaz 4950Tariq Zeb 4952INTRODUCTIONMattel incorporation was a U.S toy manufacturing company.They were making toys by giving contract to the Chinese manufacturer Design was given to them by the Mattel Inc and they were just producing toys for themThey were producing the toys at the mass level

RecallsProduct name :- Polly pocket Product Manufactured :- 2002First incident happen with :- Paige kostrzewski , July 2005 Product Recall :- November 2005First reacall was because of Magnetic design flawRecall product 7 million

2nd RECALLProduct name :-Die cast vehical modelProduct manufactured:-between may and july of 2007 Product recall on:- 14 August 2007Products affected by recall: 436000Because of lead paint

Reports receive 150 reports of fire in the power wheel cars Over heating other deficiencies33 reports of tiny screws used in the farm could become loose and pose the risk of a child accidentally swallowing them.Additional 400 reports of similar megnatic hazards with different toys

Little people animals farm

Apology to China

Recall blame was Heavilyplaced on China by Global media.On September 21

Mattel issued a prepared apology to China about the recall, taking full blame for the incident. They took ownership of the magnetic design flaw, claiming that it was a Mattel design flaw and not a Chinese manufacturing flaw.Hopes that it will restore consumer confidence in products made in China.

Discussion Questions 1) Identify the major stakeholders in the case and answer the question, Who was responsible for what went wrong and why?Directly or indirectly related to the business Stake holders are their customers (retail stores), vendors, manufacturers, the government both in the US and China and all executives involved with Mattel production both in the US and China. Mattel executive team and the Chinese manufacturer were responsible for what went wrong

2) What are the ethical issues in the case, and for whom? Ethical relativism(self interest approach) Ethically Mattel should have notified the public as soon as they were aware of a potential issue.This involves all senior executives.As the company has been fined two times for knowingly withholding the information regarding the problems that created an unreasonable risk of serious injury and death

3) Do you think cross-cultural dynamics and misunderstandings played a role in the resulting problems in the case? Explain. The interaction of people from different backgrounds in the business world. Cross culture is an important issue in international business, as the success of international trade depends upon the smooth interaction of employees from different cultures and regions

We believe cross-cultural dynamics and misunderstandings could have played a role in the problems in the case but it is the responsibility of Mattel to know about the dealings of the company they choose to partner with to manufacturing their product. This ensures the quality standards are maintained and removes risk.

4) Was there a prodromal phasein this case? If so, identify this stage and the event that explain it.The prodromal phase is the warning stage There was a prodromal phase.When on August 2, 2002 John Yang a NBC reporter, reported on a global recall by Fisher Price, the parent company of Mattel. The next prodromal phase occurred on July 6, 2007 when toy production at a European company was stopped due to the discovery of lead based paint on some toys. On July 26, 2007 Mattel was informed that there were safety risks at 83 of their productions companies. At this point Mattel could have taken steps to prevent any further hazards or injuries to stakeholders

5) Which issues management framework would you suggest to best explain this case? Why?

Issue management is the activity of thinking about the problems that might affect companies governments or consumer and then planning ways to solve them The issues management framework that best explains the case is the Seven Phase Issue Development Process. This framework is best used for companies that provide a product to the mass public and work in a global environment..