Case Study Mattel's Foreign Toy Production Central Issue: How can the top toy manufacturer in the world, Mattel, maintain low production costs and maintain a high level of product quality from Asian countries, especially China, where health and safety codes are much laxer than those in the United States? Recommended Course of Action: I recommend that Mattel should implement a product quality assessment process as part of the manufacturing process to ensure that products are checked before releasing to the market. This can be achieved by hiring process quality engineers that are trained and aware of the best-known methods and have capabilities in assessment of the products. The quality assurance agents can develop a script and a random selection process to select few samples from each production line then test those against agreed to safety metrics and measurements, product that do not meet the specs will need to be discarded. This type of a control needs to be implemented in all factories, and the agents can be selected based on geographical proximity to the factories. Basis for Recommendation It is obvious, because of multiple recalls, that Mattel needs a way to check the quality of their products that are being produced in foreign countries. The simplest way to do this would be to hire employees whose main responsibility would be to check the quality of the products produced. Mattel already employs roughly 200 quality assurance employees, but they do not live near the factories they are responsible for and only visit once every three or so months. Reasonable Alternatives 1. The first reasonable alternative Mattel could seek to employ would be to move all of the production of its toys out of undeveloped countries and solely into well developed countries. This is rejected because this option is extremely expensive. 2. Another reasonable alternative would be for Mattel to only make its products in house. This would assure the quality of their products because they would be directly responsible for them. This is also rejected because of its high cost. 3. The third reasonable alternative would be for Mattel to spread its toy production across more factories so that if a one factory needs to be recalled, it will not be as much as if they had all come from the same place. This is rejected because this plan would make it much harder to be sure the factories Mattel contracts are following the correct safety procedures. Significant Factors 1. History 2. Products 3. Quality 4. Competition 5. Hyperstores 6. Outsourcing 7. In-House Production 8. Safety and Child Labor Discussion Significant Factor # 1: History Mattel started quite humbly in a garage in California in 1948 where Elliot Handler and Harold Matson created dollhouses (Jiangyong, Zhigang, and Linhui P.3). Just seven years later, Mattel's sales were to 5 million American dollars and featured a more diverse lineup of toys for boys and girls. Mattel made a then unheard of decision in 1955 to advertise to children during an episode of Walt Disney's Mickey Mouse Club. Though that was costly, Mattel saw strong returns. Mattel came out with the still popular Barbie doll in 1959. Because of its full clothing line and accessories, Barbie was an instant