Mattel Catastrophe in China

Barbie was introduced to the world in 1959 and is one of the most representative dolls ever. Barbie was founded in California in 1944 and was built by Mattel who has dominated the toy market since then. Barbie helped Mattel's name and creation of the empire, later released products such as Hot Wheels and Polly Pocket. Mattel has been highly evaluated for many years and manufactures safe and child friendly products. About 20 years ago, Mattel started manufacturing operations overseas and has been successful in recent years.

Mattel outsources manufacturing operations to Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Mexico, Ireland and China. Most outsourcing is done through China, accounting for 65% of Mattel's total production. Mattel has facilities in the United States and Ireland and there are expansion plants in Mexico and Asian countries. It is about half of the production that Mattel uses these in-house manufacturing factories. This is relatively high compared with Hasbro, which has little internal production. - Mattel is the world's largest toy company, a listed company with market capitalization exceeding $ 6.5 billion. The company has approximately 36,000 people in 43 countries and its products are famous for over 150 countries (Mattel.com)

Mattel's toy collection caused a global media attack on China. This greatly hurt the reputation of the world's Chinese manufacturing industry. However, many criticisms may not be grounded. Many Chinese manufacturers claim that they are criticized for Mattel's design flaw. On 20th September 2007, with attorneys' attendance, Mattel sent a prudent apology to China during the meeting with China Chief Product Safety Li Changjiang. Thomas A. Debrowski, executive vice president for global operations at Mattel, apologized. As part of the apology, Debrowski said: "Maitai is entirely responsible for these recalls, and apologizes to all customers who personally receive you, Chinese and toys.

On September 21, 2007, Thomas Debrowski, Executive Vice President of Global Operations, went to Beijing. In a meeting with Mr. Li Weijiang, who is responsible for product safety in China, Debrowski is fully responsible for the collection of magnets and states as follows. The manufacturer said, "He continues to read the prepared words."