1.

What was the biggest challenge that Mattel INC had to face while
recalling the toys?

Mattel had recalled more than 21 million Chinese-made toys worldwide over
worries that they were tainted with lead paint or contained small magnets that
could be swallowed by children.

2. How many hours of labor did it took for the recall? How much
money was spent on the recall?

The employees had logged over 50,000 hours investigating the issues
surrounding the toy recalls. The financial losses due to the recalls were large
and mounting--by the middle of October, Mattel reported spending an estimated
$40 million on product recall-related activities

3. What was the source of the toy recall?

Mattel’s difficulties stem from two sources: lead paint and small magnets. Lead, if
ingested over time, can cause serious developmental and other health problems in
young children. These magnets, once swallowed, could come together with force
enough to tear through the intestines of a young child

4. How did consumers respond to the toy recalls of 2007?

The data suggest that the 2007 toy recalls had negative effects on industry sales
as a whole. Regression estimates imply that Christmas season sales of
Infant/Preschool toys made by manufacturers who did not experience any
recalls were about 25 percent lower in 2007 than 2005.6 This suggests that
consumers interpreted the specific recalls that were issued as providing at least
some information about the overall safety of toys in the market. This is not
surprising given that the majority of the recalls that took place were involved a
common industry practice of manufacturing in China.

5. How did the company tried to amend their PR with the customers
and companies after the recall?

The CEO took personal charge of the situation. He has apologized publicly and
taken immediate steps to tighten quality assurance requirements on Mattel's
suppliers. There has been no effort to duck behind blaming suppliers and
distributors or, even worse, consumers.
 6. What measures the company should have taken for their toys which
would not have led to the recall?

The managers need to strengthen their control and inspection systems so that
product defects are identified in-house rather than brought to the notice of the
company by outsiders, following incidents of harm to consumers. The DMAIC
approach is an acronym for Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve and Control in
which the output is a function of all the inputs. The challenge comes in
controlling costs while maintaining quality.

7. How did Mattel Inc, act on the toy recall 2007?

Mattel is effectively getting the word out about the recall. Among other
methods, the company is using bold red ads on high-traffic Internet sites such as
Yahoo.com to find owners of the affected products and drive them to the Mattel
Web site for more recall information. With this approach, consumers are being
empowered to handle the problem themselves rather than clog customer service
desks at Mattel's retail outlets.

Mattel's recall Web site is a model of excellence. All the affected products are
depicted and clear instructions are provided on how to return recalled products
(including downloadable application forms and shipping mailers), which
suggests strong contingency planning.