Success and Failures of Mattel - Assignment Example

Legal and Ethics Aspects Name Student Number Institution Course Code Instructor Date Legal and Ethics Aspects: Mattel Case Study Case Study Overview Mattel, Inc case study presents various instances of legal and ethical aspects with respect to the obligations and responsibilities of the company to its employees, customers and the society. Employees’ obligations involve observing their wellbeing in terms of safe working conditions and terms of employment. For the consumers, the responsibility involves ensuring safety of the products and adhering to social responsibility for the larger society. The case study presents the success and failures of Mattel in its quest to produce the best products for children in the global market. The various scenarios present critical issues for considerations in regard to legal and ethical aspects and give a basis for discussing the following questions. 1. Manufacturers of Products for Children have Special Obligations and Responsibilities to Consumers and Society. Manufacturers of products for children’s products have special responsibilities to the consumers and the society at large. All companies manufacturing products for children are part of the business organization and with the competitive nature of every business operation, every business entity ensures effective measures to observe and meet customers’ tastes and preferences (Weiss, 2014). This brings up an interdependent relation between the company and the community; with respect to the surrounding and the target consumers. In essence, the interdependencies trigger greater responsibilities for the company to observe with respect to its customers, and the broader society. The result is a corporate social responsibility (CSR) aspect requiring the companies to act responsibly where one method involves philosophic way and the other pragmatic way (Scheffer and Kaeb, 2011). The former incorporates organizational requirement model coupled with the social values deeply found in the society that any company cannot ignore for survival purposes in the business operation context. Companies have a responsibility to their customers and the society in respect to CSR which incorporates economic, legal and ethical and other expectations that the society may desires the corporate body reciprocates to for their wellbeing (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015). With effective CSR, companies are termed to have moral, ethical and philanthropic responsibilities. The current dispensation is characterized with increased acceptance of consumer responsibilities by organizations towards their customers and the society (Weiss, 2014). This appears as a marketing strategy to promote awareness of the company responsiveness to the needs of the consumers and the larger society. Generally, enlightened marketing philosophy states that marketing strategies ought to socially responsible to incorporate marketing practices that are consumer oriented, as well as social marketing that targets satisfying the needs and wants of customer base (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015). This is through manufacturing of products that are beneficial, as well as pleases the consumers and the society. Production of children products is rather sensitive due to the fact that the target customer is a minor who may have no cognitive ability to establish any hitches or danger posed by a product (Lyles, Flynn and Frohlich, 2008). Therefore, manufacturers of children’s products have the special responsibility to ensure production of safe and secure products for children to play with, as well as be sensitive pertaining to the concerns of the society regarding the rights and privacy of the target children. The major obligation of the manufacturing company is to ensure manufacture of safe products in all usage and practices even with respect to the non-intended usage to ensure safety of the kids (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010). In context, observing high levels of protection of children’s safety when using the products falls on the manufacturers’ hands. This is achieved by carrying out prior assessments and effective trials to evaluate the safety and health hazards posed by the product. Further, specifications are necessary with regards to warnings on products that ought to be used by given age groups (Scheffer and Kaeb, 2011). The manufacturer has the responsibility of placing the warning in its accuracy, and clearly stating the intended age for use in respect to the product. The testing and analysis processes are necessary in order to ensure no faulty toys or products reach the market and bring about legal matters which results to increased legal costs, as well as logistics for recalling the disputed products and compensation (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010). 2. The effectiveness of Mattel in Encouraging Ethical and Legal Conduct by its Manufacturers: Probable Changes and Additions that would be made to the Company’s Global Manufacturing Principles. Mattel is a household name with respect to children products famed for the Barbie dolls and Hot Wheel cars. From the 2007 issue of compliance that resulted to the company recalling millions of toys due to their faulty production created a continuum of events that require analysis and evaluation to prevent future hitches (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010). From the case study, it evident that the recall measure greatly enhanced customers’ trust, but the initial effect of increased lead levels in doll paints, coupled with presence of magnets in some toys brings the issue of critical supervision. Observing high degree of ethical conducts ensures fewer conflicts and legal cases with the employees and the community (Weiss, 2014). Thus, to ensure effective manufacturing principles, Mattel Company ought to come up procedures governing compliance with local and international safety standards and all companies producing Mattel brands have the responsibility of observing them to the latter or cease production. This will not only promote compliance to safety and ethical standards, but will also ensure the company avoids liability and fiduciary issues that may arise with customer or the society dissatisfaction (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015). Mattel, Inc have enhanced its ethical and legal conduct management by ensuring every entity within its production and marketing meets the required standards both locally and internationally. Nevertheless, the need for improved measures to address any hitches within the operations of the multi-national company is inevitable. The actions resulting to manufacture of lead painted toys eroded the strong ethical standard that Mattel had observed within its subsidiary companies, its contractors and suppliers (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010). From analysis, it evident that quality of production was breached denying the customer the right quality which resulted to legal issues. Nevertheless, the company was able to settle for recalls and the cases to avoid complications. In context, the need for improved ethical standards and compliance measures is paramount. It is inevitable for Mattel, Inc to ensure that every entity associated with production, supply and marketing of Mattel’s brand products adheres to both local and internationals safety standards (Weiss, 2014). The aspect of quality ought to be the key factor driving the production process at Mattel, Inc. Finally, to ensure compliance with safety standards, Mattel should engage only with genuine contractors, certified suppliers and test every batch of chemicals that is outsourced for manufacturing purposes. This will not only reduce occurrences of mistakes, but curb any faulty production. Further, there is need to enhance control measure of every level of production to all companies and its subsidiaries worldwide through random checks for inspection. To avoid faulty or malfunctioning toys, testing of all finished products should be made a priority prior to being released to the customer. This will ensure only toys that meet strict safety measures are released to the market, thus avoid recall of products in the future, as well as avoid legal issues with customers. 3. The Extent of Mattel’s Responsibility for Issues related to its Production of Toys in China and Ways it could have been avoided. Mattel, Inc has progressively monitored its production and contracting services ensuring every level of production or contracting meets its set requirements. The production of toys in China having lead paint tarnished the name Mattel brands amid the increased emphasis on quality and ensuing safety of their products (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015). Due to the fact that the toys were produced under the brands of Mattel, the company is responsible for the production amid the blame being directed to the Chinese authorities for allowing sub-standard production to occur in the country. Due to the fact that China is the largest producer of toys (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010); it is imperative to note that the issue of a strategic manufacturing and market base that requires critical supervision. Thus, for Mattel to safeguard its reputation globally and maintain the customer trust, it ought to enhance its strategic supervision measures to ensure full compliance of local and international standards. Since the Mattel Company is a global corporation, there is need for increased surveillance to ensure compliance of all overseas manufacturers. With the advent of technology, the company ought to employ effective technology measures to ensure constant assessment and evaluation of production and operation processes of all companies attached to Mattel, Inc. The Chinese production industry is marked with cases of price competition rather than quality (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015), nevertheless, Mattel ought to ensure its tradition of quality is maintained amid increased costs of production for safety purposes. Further, critical adherence to corporate culture will ensure that Mattel shares the values and beliefs of the region and promote production through effective organizational system. In line with the diverse manufacturing and design defects, trust betrayal, and cross-company disparities can be attributed to problems experienced with the supply chain resulting to harm and danger to consumers (Lyles, Flynn and Frolic, 2008). Thus, Mattel ought to employ the strategy of studying all possible leads that would results to defects or recalls which have affected the company negatively in respect of trust to customers and losses. To conclusively promote the tradition of quality and customer satisfaction, any overseas company producing Mattel brands should be compelled to adhere to the standard of Mattel, Inc (Stanwick and Stanwick, 2010). The company has been positioned for many decades at the high end and exploiting this advantage with their tradition of making Barbie dolls that give life to the world of toys can greatly enhance sales. Barbie dolls possess a life whereby they are perceived to have thoughts, should be dressed up according to taste, require friends in the children owning them and be part of the children’s world (Ferrell, Fraedrich and Ferrell, 2015). Such advantages can be fully exploited to market the brands and ensure compliance not only of the local and international standards, but also look into the culture and beliefs of the customers. By embracing cultural diversity, Mattel, Inc will have a chance to break into foreign markets and expand its market share amid the increased competitive nature. References Ferrell, O.C., Fraedrich, J. and Ferrell, L. (2015). Business ethics: Ethical decision making and cases. 10th ed. Stamford, CT: Cengage Learning. Lyles, M., Flynn, B. and Frohlich, M. (2008). All supply chains don’t flow through: Understanding supply chain issues in product recalls. Management and Organization Review. 4(2). Scheffer, D. and Kaeb, C. (2011). The five levels of CSR compliance: The resiliency of corporate liability under the Alien Tort Statute and the Case for a counterattack Strategy in Compliance Theory. Berkerley Journal of International Law. 29(1): 334-397. Stanwick, S.D. and Stanwick, P.A. (2010). Section 3. General issue in management: The ethics of outsourcing at Mattel. Problems and Perspectives in Management. Vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 179-183. Weiss, J.W. (2014). Business ethics: A stakeholder and issues management approach. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc. Read More