Mattel Toy ecall
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 ecalls," 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…...

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References

Federal Minimum Wage Rates. (2012). Info Please. Retrieved from:  http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0774473.html 

Mattel and the Toy Recalls. (2008). Richard Ivey School of Business.

Total Quality Management. (2012). ASQ. Retrieved from:  http://asq.org/learn-about-quality/total-quality-management/overview/overview.html

Mattel understands that for its customers and retailers, there is nothing worse, ethically, than putting profit over the health of children. It would appear that Lee Der did not share these values. Thus, part of the problem lies with communication of values between Mattel and its suppliers. The suppliers need to understand that they need to work to the same ethical standards as Mattel, since it is Mattel's name that is going on the product. Mattel needs to hold the management of all of its suppliers accountable for both understanding and adhering to the quality standards that Mattel sets out.
There are a number of different things that Mattel can learn from this experience. The first is that the chain of control runs right through the entire value chain. Every part of the value chain can either add or detract value from the process. Mattel needs to understand this, and…...

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Works Cited:

QuickMBA. (2010). The value chain. QuickMBA. Retrieved July 2, 2013 from  http://www.quickmba.com/strategy/value-chain/ 

Bapuji, H. & Beamish, P. (2009). Mattel and the toy recalls. Ivey School of Business. In possession of the author.

They may prefer to buy other toys for their daughters. The 'break up' with Ken to pursue new boyfriends will do little to allay such fears, although theoretically Barbie could also pursue new careers without Ken and focus on things besides looking good in her outfits and in her pink car. However, the fact that Barbie is becoming more of a 'Cali girl' seems to indicate Mattel is going against this strategy and sticking with Barbie's traditional feminine image. To guard against the increased popularity of electronic toys for girls Mattel stated in its press release "Barbie Takes to the Runway at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show" that it has launched a 2008 Barbie interactive computer fashion game for "tech savvy girls."
Bargaining power of suppliers

Barbie still commands an impressive fan base as a brand name, despite the availability of substitute goods. In the press release recap "Barbie Does it…...

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Works Cited

Barbie does it all in 2007." Mattel Press Release. 2007. 10 Mar 2008. http://www.shareholder.com/mattel/news/20.cfm

Barbie Takes to the Runway at the 2008 Consumer Electronics Show."

Mattel Press Release 7 Jan 2008. 10 Mar 2008. http://www.shareholder.com/mattel/news/20.cfm

The Break-Up of the Millennium for the 'Doll' of a Couple." Mattel Press Release.

Mattel faces an uncertain operating environment. An old-established company with a great family of brands, Mattel has a lot of strengths with which to improve its business. However, the company is facing increased competition both from other toy companies and from electronic entertainment alternatives. This paper highlights some of the challenges that Mattel faces and some of the alternatives for dealing with its problems. There are four major alternatives presented -- an aggressive option that sees the company embrace a high-volume, low-margin approach is the first. The second is a defensive option that sees the company seek new channels, reduce its international presence and focus on core brands. The third option is to maintain the status quo, recognizing that the company is generally successful. The fourth option is that the company can embrace electronic media, giving the company new revenue streams but without much increase in cost. It is recommended…...

Mattel
Manufacturers of products that are aimed at children do have a special obligation with respect to their products and the marketing thereof. Considerable controversy has erupted as the result of advertising to children. Children are impressionable, and while they are not the gatekeepers who control spending in the family, it is worth considering that products marketed to children are not detrimental. As Clay (2000) notes, a key source of controversy is when psychologists help marketers to understand children's minds in order to sell better to them. For most people, there is a different standard of ethics that needs to be applied when marketing to children, and this is something that marketers at Mattel need to keep in mind. For Mattel, marketing to children is a necessity, but the company needs to bear in mind that despite the fact that opinions on the issue are divided, most consumers feel that marketing…...

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Works Cited:

Clay, R. (2000). Advertising to children: Is it ethical? American Psychological Association. Retrieved December 19, 2011 from http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep00/advertising.aspx

Magno, F. (2008). Outsourcing production or moving away the locus of ethical accountability? Some findings about product safety. 8th Conference on Business and Economics, Florence, Italy. Retrieved December 19, 2011 from https://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:ICPDLojD9AUJ:www.gcbe.us/8th_GCBE/data/Francesca%2520Magno.doc+mattel+production+ethics&hl=en&gl=us&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgVS__rgWpgp6X3hvxXLo_U5Nc6m9aqw3zlZOHR4bnueTNCxB1bIaHPL8PkrW5ongn8N-1zYTxvw-ZVDc4d-rfBRsEvyhVOIiy5Cs5TyQPUH2v2ML2xZGIh5ZLUDulLsH-RV3Mu&sig=AHIEtbTHjrvrTOy2aS12WpfVdd5pAcUGgg

Mattel. (2011). Global manufacturing principles. Mattel.com. Retrieved December 19, 2011 from  http://corporate.mattel.com/about-us/cr-global.aspx

New York: Berg.
Marketing to specific people and groups is a demonstrative development that has been around for almost as long as marketing has been recognized as a viable field of study and employment. Marketing segmentation or geodemographic marketing segmentation is a development of this desire, on the part of the manufacturer to meet the most customers, who will be interested in and purchase the products they develop. According to the Dictionary of Business geodemographic segmentation is defined as:

Market segmentation in which consumers are grouped according to demographic variables, such as income and age, and identified by a geographic variable, such as post code or zip code. The base data is obtained from the census data. Two principles are involved: (1) people who live in the same neighbourhood, defined by a census enumeration district, are likely to share similar buying habits; (2) neighbourhoods can be categorized in terms of their…...

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References

Danitz, T. (1997, July 7). Consumer Protection vs. Market Freedom. Insight on the News, 13, 16.

Goldberg, M.E. (1995). Social Marketing: Are We Fiddling While Rome Burns?. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 4(4), 347-370.

Janssen, W.F. (1987, September). The Constitution and the Consumer: Discovering the Connections. FDA Consumer, 21, 8.

Lazer, W., & Kelley, E.J. (1973). Social Marketing: Perspectives and Viewpoints. Homewood, IL: Richard D. Irwin.

Mattel Corporation specializes in creating lasting memories for every child the corporation is able to touch through the purchase of their toys. Therefore, the Mattel does not sell toys rather a child's imagination and memories are forged and created respectively, via the purchase of their merchandise. (Corporate.Mattel.com/annual-report) Operations have been successful in U.S. markets from the 1950's through 2000. Since however, the lion's share of profits have been generated by overseas markets in Europe. (Corporate.Mattel.com/annual-report)
The risk factors for Mattel are generally macroeconomic in nature. Generally speaking if the global economy continue to realize marginal GDP growth outside of the ultra-hot Brazil, ussia, India, China (BIC) region, Mattel's business and financial results are likely to be adversely affected. (Corporate.Mattel.com/annual-report) Globalization will force additional forces on multinational corporations such as Mattel thus creating "governance risks inherent in value chains and networks." (Abonyi, Van Slyke, 2010)

Global economic factors hurt financial performance in 2009.…...

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References

Abonyi, G., & Slyke, D.M.V. (2010). Governing on the edges: Globalization of production and the challenge to public administration in the twenty-first century. Public Administration Review, 70, S33. Retrieved fromhttp://search.proquest.com/docview/853424044?accountid=13044

Annual Report. Mattel Corporation.  http://corporate.mattel.com/annual-report/assets/pdf/MattelAnnualReport2009.pdf 

Investor Relations. The Clorox Company.  http://investors.thecloroxcompany.com/financials.cfm 

MGM Resorts. Company Overview.    http://mgmresorts.investorroom.com/index.php?s=122http://mgmresorts.com/company/company-overview.aspx 

This was because during this period the company had used a yellow pigment paint which contained high levels of lead. Another product that was discovered to contain high levels of lead was the Sarge cars paint. The product was manufactured by Early Light Industrial Company for Mattel. The company was based in Hong Kong, but the products were manufactured in China. Initially it was estimated the company had manufactured around 250,000 Sarge cars.
Solutions to the problems

To ensure that the magnets used on the Polly Pocket play sets did not come loose, Mattel had to reinforce the magnets instead of gluing them. The reinforcement involved locking the magnets in the toys. By locking the magnets in the toys, Mattel ensured that the magnets will not come loose when the children are playing with the toys. To ensure this rule is enforced always Mattel will have to come up with strict…...

It is worth noting that like many companies, Mattel has grown since its inception largely on the basis of population growth. Not to take anything away from Mattel's products, but the population of the world and its wealth have increased substantially since 1945. The company now stands to benefit from a surge in growth as the baby boom echo generation enters child-bearing age. This massive demographic will likely have a lot of children as well, giving Mattel a chance for strong demographic growth in the North American market. The company grew strongly during the baby boom years, and now their grandchildren are the next major wave of potential consumers.
There are a number of threats that the company faces, however. Competition is a major threat, as it comes not only from other toymakers but from video games, computers and other electronic entertainment. Children raised on computers are now having kids,…...

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Works Cited:

Barboza, D. & Story, L. (2007). Toymaking in China, Mattel's way. New York Times. Retrieved March 26, 2012 from  http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/business/26toy.html?pagewanted=all 

Dittmar, H., Halliwell, E. & Ive, S. (2006). Does Barbie make girls want to be thin? The effect of experimental exposure to image of dolls on the body image of 5- to 8-year-old girls. Developmental Psychology. Vol. 42 (2) 283-292.

Egan, M. (2011). Mattel's 3Q matches street's view; Barbie sales soar 17%. Fox Business Retrieved March 26, 2012 from  http://www.foxbusiness.com/markets/2011/10/14/mattel-q3-sales-beat-estimates/ 

Kell, J. (2011). Mattel has holiday hopes as sales keep up momentum. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved March 26, 2012 from  http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203914304576630574067645008.html

Mattel Toy Company was "born" in 1945. Owners, Ruth and Elliot Handler and Harold (Matt) Matson began the company out of a garage workshop in Southern California. The name,"Mattel" was a joining of "Matt" for Matson and "Ell" for Handler, thus the name "Mattel." The first products made by this new company were picture frames, but Elliot, always the one on the lookout for new ideas, soon began manufacturing dollhouse furniture from the picture frame scraps. Mattson sold his share of the company later that year, thus leaving the Handlers sole proprietors of Mattel. The dollhouse furniture sold exceedingly well and convinced the Handlers that their new company should be one based on the needs and desires of children - a toy company (Mattel corporate website, 2001).
In 1955, Mattel Toys literally became a household word when they began to advertise on the new Mickey Mouse Club television program. Advertising…...

Marketing
General Economic Environment

Mattel Incorporated's general economic environment in the United States is favorable, since the income distribution among U.S. consumers of Mattel Inc. products are relatively higher compared to other regions where Mattel Inc. is internationally located. For example, Asian consumers purchase relatively less number of Mattel products because of the high costs of these products when they are marketed and sold internationally. Income is also affected in the current social and political states of countries wherein Mattel Inc. sells its products. Because Asian countries tend to have more social and political instability, there is also financial instability as a result. Thus, because of financial instability, income is lower, thereby resulting to lesser consumption of toy products, which is not considered a priority among Asian households and consumers. Therefore, there are higher economic returns for Mattel Inc. For its European, North, and Central America regions compared to Asia-Pacific and South-American…...

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References

Marketing Spotlight -- Mattel." 2003. Prentice-Hall Inc. Web site. 13 April 2003  http://wps.prenhall.com/bp_kotler_mm_11/0,162066-,00.html .

Mattel Implements Microsoft Technologies to Make Barbie.com Child's Play." 6 December 2001. Microsoft Inc. Web site. 13 April 2003 http://www.microsoft.com/resources/casestudies/CaseStudy.asp?CaseStudyID=12282.

Young, R. 2003. "Economies of Scale." Biz/ed Web site. 13 April 2003 http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/notes/econ204.htm.

Mattel Faced in China
In 2009 Mattel opened a six-story House of Barbie in Shanghai, expecting it to be an enormous hub for an emerging market in China. However, just two years later Mattel was forced to close the doors on the $30 million facility. This paper will explain why Mattel failed to make an impact with its House of Barbie in Shanghai. It will show the problems that the company faced going in, which it failed to sufficiently consider, and how those problems might have been overcome.

The main points that this paper will examine are the specific market problems that Mattel faced by opening its store in China as well as the cause of the failure in terms of values and attitudes, gender differences, polite behavior expectations, forms of communication, importance of emotion, and education. The last points will focus on recommendations. In short, the American company expected the…...

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Reference List

Burkitt, L. (2013, November 7). Mattel Gives Barbie a Makeover for China. The Wall

Street Journal. Retrieved from  http://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702304672404579183324082672770 

Rose, I. (2014, November 26). Can Barbie Conquer China? BBC News. Retrieved from  http://www.bbc.com/news/business-30210261 

Voigt, K. (2012, November 21). What do Chinese consumers want? Not Barbie. CNN.

Ethical Behaviors of Mattel in the Toy Industry
The ethicacy of corporate behaviors are influenced by a myriad of factors yet most strongly reflect the internal culture, alignment of leadership to vision, and accumulated trade-offs made by management over years of ethical decisions, trade-offs and outcomes. In the study Mattel, Inc.: Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP) - A life-cycle analysis of a company-based code of conduct in the toy industry (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, Emelianova, 2011) the authors successfully provide insights into the moral and ethical dilemmas of operating a multinational corporation (MNC) that is highly dependent on Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP). The life-cycle analysis of company-based code of conduct also illustrates how creating a solid ethical foundation using a Corporate Social esponsibility (CS) platform is only as effective as the aligning of senior management, vision and mission, and manufacturing, sourcing, supply chain and distribution is (Sethi, Veral, Shapiro, Emelianova, 2011). When and…...

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References

Gordley, J., & Cecil, S. (1998). Good faith and profit maximization. Review of Business, 19(4), 11-17.

Heinze, E. (2010). The meta-ethics of law: Book one of Aristotle's Nicomachean ethics. International Journal of Law in Context, 6(1), 23-44.

Kielsgard, M.D. (2011). Universalism and human rights in the 21st century. Asia Pacific Law Review, 19(2), 155-176.

Machan, T.R. (2004). Aristotle and the moral status of business. Journal of Value Inquiry, 38(2), 217-223.

Products Liability esearch:
Mattel Inc. is a company that was founded in 1944 by Elliot and uth Handler that designs, manufactures, and markets a huge range of toy products. The firm is headquartered in California with its core product lines including Hot Wheels die-cast vehicles, Barbie fashion dolls, Disney toys, Fisher-Price preschool toys, and games like Scrabble. While Mattel also manufactures its toy products based on license agreements with movie makers, most of its toys are produced outside its huge market in the United States i.e. Southeast Asia. Actually, the firm's principal manufacturing facilities are located in several countries in Southeast Asia like Malaysia, China, Thailand, Indonesia, and even Mexico. Since its inception, the company has continued to experience significant growth that enables it to generate huge revenues. By 2007, its revenues had grown to $5.97 billion with its three largest customers accounting for 41% of sales across the globe. However,…...

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References:

Andersen, M. (2009, October 16). Mattel Settles Lawsuit Over High Levels of Lead in Chinese

Toys. Retrieved June 10, 2012, from  http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/retail/2009-10-14-mattell-lead-in-toys-settlement_N.htm 

"CPSC Overview." (n.d.). U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Retrieved from Consumer Product Safety Commission website:  http://www.cpsc.gov/about/about.html 

Lacorte, V.L. (n.d.). Mattel, Inc.: The Lead paint Recall. Retrieved from Tuck School of Business

Mergers & Acquisitions
One of the more fascinating and complex part of corporate news and maneuvering is when companies engage in mergers and acquisitions as a means to further their growth, development and diversification. This report shall look at two companies in particular, those being Mattel and Texas Instruments. After conducting a thorough literature review, questions about both firms will be posed and answered. While there is more than one way to launch a takeover or acquisition bid for a firm, there are some ways and methods that are better than others.

Mattel Case Study

Now that the literature relative to mergers and acquisitions has been properly sampled and queried, it should now be ascertained what the answers are to the questions described in the introduction, with Mattel being the first firm addressed. Mattel has proven themselves to be concerned with branching out and modernizing their product mix and feel due to the…...

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References

Alexandridis, G., Petmezas, D., & Travlos, N. (2010). Gains from Mergers and Acquisitions Around the World: New Evidence. Financial Management, 39(4), 1671-1695.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1755-053x.2010.01126.x 

Bhagwat, V., Dam, R., & Harford, J. (2016). The Real Effects of Uncertainty on Merger Activity. Review Of Financial Studies, 29(11), 3000-3034.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhw061 

Brealey, R., Cooper, I., & Kaplanis, E. (2009). Excess Comovement in International Equity Markets: Evidence from Cross-border Mergers. Review Of Financial Studies, 23(4), 1718-1740.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhp104 

Bris, A., & Cabolis, C. (2008). The Value of Investor Protection: Firm Evidence from Cross-Border Mergers. Review Of Financial Studies, 21(2), 605-648.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/rfs/hhm089

Media Imperialism and the Globalization of the Film Industry
Media imperialism refers to the dominance of Western media, particularly that of the United States, in influencing the global media landscape. This influence extends to the film industry, shaping its globalization in several significant ways.
1. Hollywood Dominance:
Hollywood, the largest film industry globally, wields tremendous control over the production, distribution, and exhibition of films. Through its vast financial resources and technological advantages, Hollywood produces blockbusters that dominate international box offices. This dominance limits the exposure of local films in many countries, as theaters prioritize screening Hollywood productions.
2. Cultural Homogenization:
Hollywood films often feature Western....