Question

• What elements of risk are there in terms of sourcing and procuring goods from a Western source versus a low-cost country source such as Vietnam?
• What actions could Mattel take to minimize product recalls in the future?

Answer 1

• What elements of risk are there in terms of sourcing and procuring goods from a Western source versus a low-cost country source such as Vietnam?

-The main risks are costs and tariffs and not being able to have control over what is going on because you are not there 24/7/365. Changing environments and costs could cause higher prices for customers. Not being to have control over processes is another risk because if something goes wrong you wouldn’t be able to handle the issue either until the next day or be able to get a handle on things going wrong because you are not there to directly deal with the issue at hand.

• What actions could Mattel take to minimize product recalls in the future?

- The main issue was the design issue. Mattel could have gone through so more research and testing stages throughout the manufacturing process before putting the product on the market. The design flaws led to misuse by customers which is also a large issue because if customers are misusing a product they could end up getting hurt. I believe more testing and research should have happened before finalizing designs.