Mattel Toy Recall
In 2007, Mattel was dealing with a number of challenges surrounding the quality of toys that were manufactured at their plants China. This is because lead paint was found in a number of toys which were produced in the country. These problems raised concerns about if enough was being done to test merchandise and the kinds of procedures that were place. However, after an extensive investigation, is when it was uncovered that design flaws are contributing to 90% of the toy recalls. While only 10% are directly liked to issues from the materials used to create the final product (such as the paint). ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
Then, a series of problems occurred associated with the dolls and two magnets that could become loose. If this was ingested by children, there might be an intestinal blockage that develops (which is fatal). This is a design flaw that is directly linked to the company, not the manufacturers. These new developments resulted in the industry improving their quality assurance procedures. At the same time, many retailers and other firms began to independently test the products they were selling. This increased monitoring for quality control and safety. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
Issue Identification
There are a number of issues that were highlighted from this case. The most notable include: the lack of effective oversight / regulation, the scope of the problem within the industry and how executives were willing to ignore these challenges for as long as possible. The combination of these factors created an atmosphere that enabled many products of poor quality to be sold to unsuspecting consumers. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
The lack of oversight and regulation has been taking place over the course of 25 years. What happened was, the federal and state governments allowed the industry to regulate itself. This occurred by reducing the number of inspectors and relying on firms to conduct their own tests. The problem is that inspectors became overloaded with an increase in the total amounts of toys that are imported and not enough staff to properly check every shipment. At the same time, most firms placed a limited number of their resources in these areas. This created a situation where quality was not focused on. It at this point that, these conditions allowed for defective toys to be sold to consumers. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
The scope of the problems within the industry occurred when executives ignored these issues for many years. This is because they were focused on increasing their profit margins and reducing costs as much as possible. The best way that they could achieve these objectives is to outsource the manufacturing of different products to China. The problem is that no one was actively monitoring quality control (as this will increase expenses). ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
When these issues were identified, managers often kept quiet. This is because they did not want to do anything that will hurt the firm's profit margins. Over the course of time, this created a situation where the underlying amounts of quality control decreased. This set the stage for a series of defective products to go through the supply chain without being properly tested. When this happened, Mattel was forced to deal with a number of recalls that were embarrassing for the firm. Management's inability to address these issues early, are what helped to make the underlying problems worse. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
The way that executives are willing to ignore these challenges is by passing the blame onto others after the problems were discovered. In this particular case, Mattel and the toy industry accused Chinese manufacturers of producing inferior merchandise. This resulted in a consumer backlash against anything that was made in China. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
In some cases, Chinese officials had a lack of oversight that helped contribute to the problem. The issues with the lead-based paint in toys are directly liked to manufacturers. However, the other design flaws with the magnets were not tied to them. Instead, they were shown to be internal problems within the company. Executives maintained that they were not the causes of these problems, until a report was released by the Canadian Consumer Product Safety Commission. They found that the majority of recalls were linked to the firms themselves, not the manufacturers. This is when the industry began to accept responsibility for their lack of testing and quality control. ("Mattel and the Toy Recalls," 2008)
These issues are showing impact of global supply chain development and the challenges...
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