Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
Effects of toys on children
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Effects of toys on children
Mattel Corporation, known as the largest toy company in the world, is a publicly traded organization with a market capitalization of over $6.5 billion. Employing approximately 36,000 people worldwide in 43 countries, their products are well-known and sold in over 150 nations (Mattel.com). With such winning odds as mentioned, it is hard to imagine that a company readily known to children and adults across the globe would become even better known for the company that produced toys made with lead-based products. This assignment will discuss whether or not Mattel acted in an ethical and socially responsible manner in their decision to recall defective toys, what they perhaps could have done differently to avoid this issue, and the best way society can continue to protect children from potentially harmful toys.
While Mattel is considered the largest toy company in the world, it has been faced with some tempestuous challenges due to safety concerns revolving around toy design and manufacturing in China. In August 2007, Mattel voluntarily recalled 1.5 million toys manufactured in China because they contained too much lead paint (Lawrence & Weber, 2011). These recalls included popular items such as Elmo, Big Bird, and Dora the Explorer by Fisher Price. These toys were products from a contract manufacturer owned by Mattel but produced in China.
Under normal operating conditions, Mattel requires that their manufacturing partners use paint from approved and certified suppliers with specific procedures in place to test and verify the validity of the products; in this particular instance however, procedures were not followed. It would appear that Mattel’s code of conduct called “Global Manufacturing Principles” which requires all busi...
... middle of paper ...
...rd.
Mattel History. (N.D.). Retrieved on March 3, 2012 from http://corporate.mattel.com/about-us/history/default.aspx
Edmonson, R.G. (2009, February). Burden of proof. Journal of Commerce, p. 1. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from ABI/INFORM Global. (Document ID: 1641146871).
Lawrence, A.T., Weber, J. (2011). Business and society, Thirteenth ed. (VitalSource Bookshelf).
Retrieved from http://online.vitalsource.com/books/9781121130074/pages/561-570
Lipton, E. (2007, September 13). Senators Urge More Stringent Rules for Toy Safety. New York Times (Late Edition (east Coast)), p. C.1. Retrieved March 4, 2012, from Banking Information Source. (Document ID: 1334887001).
Toy Industry Association, (2012). Retrieved March 3, 2012 from http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Toy_Safety&Template=/TaggedPage/TaggedPageDisplay.cfm&TPLID=56&ContentID=1840
B1. Analyze two ways that the board of directors at Paradigm Toys will meet their corporate social responsibility
Lead poisoning in children was first discovered in 1890 in Queensland, Australia. The lead source was not identified until 1904, when a researcher traced it to the paint used on railings and verandahs. The first discovery of lead poisoning in the United States (with a traceable source) was in 1914; the child had chewed the paint off of his crib. At this time they linked lead poisoning as a cause of convulsions in children. As research progressed and more children were found with high lead levels, symptoms caused by lead were expanded to include lead meningitis, acute encephalopathy, intellectual dullness, reduced consciousness, seizures, comas, and death (Chisholm, 1982).
Mattel wants to improve their execution of the existing toy business and globalize their brands; extend their brands into new areas; identify new trends, create new brands, and enter new industries; develop people and improve productivity by simplifying processes and maintaining customer service levels. Mattel wants to make a positive impact in children’s lives around the world by using unrivalled creativity and innovation to create high-quality toys that will be loved by children and trusted by parents.
Lead toxicity has been an area of unending research in recent years. There have been positive and negative correlation’s relating its toxic effects to both child developmental deficiencies and adult regression problems. This review will focus on the problems associated with the children. It will discuss various routes of entry of lead into the child’s system, both prenatally and postnatally, the mechanisms employed by lead to cause the dysfunction’s, and some of the neurological deficits believed to be caused by the lead exposure.
Wire, B. (2003, April 9). BNET. Retrieved February 22, 2008, from BNET Business Network: http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m0EIN/is_2003_April_9/ai_99819475
Materialistic things consume today’s society, whether it is cars, clothing, or jewelry, in a sense we rely on these objects for our happiness. Companies such as Nike, Gap, and Toms, have all had major success do to their loyal customers, who seek the name brand logo of their company. These companies have continued to grow tremendously, making billions of dollars; the companies strive to find ways to outsourcing its manufacturing, in hopes of making more and more profit. Profit is not the only thing that rises, many questions and investigations have occurred, exposing the poor ethical choices these businesses have made. Nike, one of the most well- known and profitable companies have experienced this heavy scrutiny first hand. Throughout this essay the reader will gain a better understanding of Nike’s poor ethical business decisions and what actions they took in order to repair their image.
This film places PG&E at the center point of ethical controversy. Ethics is an inquiry into the moral judgements people make as to what is right or wrong (Sigismond, 2014, p. 19). In this case, we learn PG&E is clearly at fault, which allows us to learn from a number of ethical issues with their business practice. Two examples stand out. First, once PG&E learn that Masry’s law firm is investigating their use of hexavalent chromium, a representative from PG&G is sent to the law firm to attempt to stop the investigation. This representative offers to buy out the Jensen family who has been affected by poor health, and their young daughter, Annabelle, is battling cancer that is speculated to be linked to PG&E. He offers $250,000 for the Jensen’s
In the contents of this case there are several management and safety issues and areas for improvement. One issue is Mattel, Inc.’s responsibility to its stakeholders; to its customers, to its stockholders, to its employees, and to its suppliers. The responsibility to Mattel’s customers is that of producing and selling safe products. Along with the recall on the lead coated toys there were also toys that contained small, but powerful magnets that if swallowed could attract each other and cause serious or fatal intestinal perforation or blockage. These defects were not discovered during the testing of the products. Before this incident occurred Mattel, Inc. was recognized by Forbes magazine as one of the 100 most trustworthy U.S. companies. Too this, Mattel did everything they could to assure that they were doing everything possible to handle and correct this problem. For Mattel’s stockholders, the company had to make sure that the image and reputation was saved and redeemed as soon as possible. With such a massive and extensive recall of potentially hazardous products, that was designed to be safe for children, the stock prices and e...
Implications for personal integrity and character: Their unethical decision may not reflect their personal character, but with the alternative options they have many opportunities to invent a practical toy that can give customers an option.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is about how companies manage their business processes to produce a positive impact on society. Companies introduce new products in markets, usually after testing concludes that the product is safe for use or consumption. It is nearly impossible for a company to truly know all of the potential risks a brand new product may have, even after thorough testing. However, once a company receives reports that its product may be causing harm to consumers, it is their responsibility to conduct more research and tests to rule-out any possible truth in the reports. This is what a socially responsible company would do, one who is preoccupied not only with their bottom-line, but one that is also worried about its customers.
Video games have been a rapidly expanding industry since their inception in the 1970s. Along with their growth have come concerns about violent video games and their effects on aggression and violence in young people. The endless numbers of school shootings have pushed this issue to the forefront. These events brought about the question: do violent video games induce aggression in youth? That’s the question I set out to answer by looking at research. The research shows that there is a link between playing video games and increases in aggression in adolescents. What implications does this fact have ethically? It means that video game producers and distributors need to be held responsible for their releases and the way they end up in the hands of kids.
Lieberman, Joseph. “Parents Should Say ‘Enough’ to Violent Video Games.” Christian Science Monitor (Dec. 24, 1993):23. Web. 20 February 2011.
It is essential for public awareness to be raised in order for citizens to begin playing a role in preserving this indispensable industry. The actions of the industry are becoming transparent and therefore, a certain degree of social responsibility must be recognized and then met. Lawyers must make a personal commitment to the industry and make efforts to intervene when necessary. They must take steps to ensure that laws, rules, standards and regulations are followed and met throughout the entire course of business by these organizations. There is an apparent need for tenacious and strong ethical leaders to step up and look out for the best interest of all the stakeholders in the
McAdams, T., Neslund, N. & Neslund, K., 2004, Law, Business and Society, 7th Edition, New York: McGraw-Hill Companies.
Top managers should be reminded that they are ultimately responsible for the quality of a product and the company. Quality management is one of the keys. By defining quality in operational terms, understanding the costs and benefits of quality, recognizing the consequences of poor quality, and recognizing the need for ethical behavior (Stevenson, 2012), will lead to a more productive operation. If Toys, Inc. specifically doesn’t want to hire additional positions to inspect quality they could outsource to a company such as SATRA whom from its website states, “SATRA can assess the risk of injury from a toy, as well as carry out analysis for the presence of restricted metals such as lead, chromium and mercury(2015).” Quality is the ability of a product or service to consistently meet or exceed customer expectations (Stevenson, 2012). Quality when it comes to manufacturing of toys especially those that have moving parts also brings in safety concerns. “Market watch officials and technological experts have warned parents to pay more attention to the quality of toys they purchase to better protect their children (Hazell, C 2011).” Parents will associate a poorly made toy, especially one that already knows that it’s poorly made by having a trade-in program as potentially dangerous for their son or daughter. Continuing to have customer dissatisfaction will further question the quality of our product and in turn the safety of our