CASE STUDY

Case Study: Mattel

Case Study

Executive Summary

Remain, calm, patient, and good humored: Mattel's transparency was incredibly beneficial in portraying the company as calm and under-control, and in-turn, helping parents feel calm. Mattel was faced with a number of media leaks with their recall announcements that could possibly alarm parents and cause them to overact if Mattel did not immediately address the issues. This meant that Mattel was under an even larger amount of time compression. According to Sarah Rosales, Mattel VP of brand PR, the company used corporate communication strength, brand strength, and internal PR strength to create a strong communications team and an effective communications plan in a short amount of time.

Larger and more complex than ever, Mattel's troubles intensified when, in 2007, the company voluntarily recalled a total of approximately 9 million toys due to loose magnets and lead paint. With the holiday season approaching, Mattel was faced with the huge challenge of maintaining the trust of its vendors, consumers, and stakeholders as well as Chinese and American governments, all while simultaneously reviewing their outsourcing, product manufacturing and testing procedures.

Mattel

Purpose of the Case Study:

To demonstrate the importance of balancing social responsibility with fiscal responsibility

To encourage discussion on the management problems corporations face when dealing with the lowest, but still important, levels of operation.

To emphasize the difficulties of enforcing regulations when outsourcing to a country that has different standards of quality

To highlight the importance of a comprehensive crisis plan in a world of time compressed news

Identify the Business Problem:

Created in 1945, Mattel has grown to become the world's largest toy company, a global leader in its industry, and a Fortune 500 company. Today, the name Mattel has become almost synonymous with the word toy - creating and distributing such childhood staples as Barbie®, Tickle Me Elmo®, and Hot Wheels®. Like many successful companies, the growth and influence of Mattel has prompted media and consumer distrust. Consumer confidence was further tested as Mattel gradually began to move towards outsourcing, eliminating American jobs and piquing the curiosity of human rights organizations.

In the 2000's, while taking great strides towards transparency and corporate social responsibility, Mattel slowly began to rebuild company reputation and consumer trust. At the same time, Mattel management struggled to maintain and outperform previous sales as well as reprioritize their brand efforts after costly mergers and acquisitions.

Wanting to maintain its position as the leader in the toy industry, Mattel's response to the 2007 recalls will set the stage for corporate culture and crisis communication in years to come. The underlying issues of balancing Corporate Social Responsibility with consumer trust and risky but profitable practices like outsourcing are common issues amongst large American corporations. In this instance, safety is the issue of utmost importance to Mattel, as the well being of children is a sensitive topic for the public and media alike.

Identifying Critical Stakeholder Issues:

In identifying the critical stakeholders, it is obvious Mattel placed its customers before anyone else, as ...