Toys Case Studies Samples For Students

What is the BIG idea?

Michael Collins founded Big Idea Group with the purpose of turning ideas into reality. This is because the company would provide resources, experience, and access significant in the development of the idea. He established the firm to enhance an intermediary between inventors and buyers of ideas. These interactions enabled him to network with them and earned money from the activity. Collins believed that the process of taking ideas as a resource and transforming them into worthwhile products was beneficial in the child’s industry and other sectors. He had several questions concerning the success of his company. He wondered whether ...

Executive Summary

Mattel is one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world. It has business operations all across the world. Mattel sources most of its toys from Asian subcontractors. China is the main source of Mattel toys. In 2007, a retailer found lead paint in Mattel toys. This started a huge investigation on the part of US government and Mattel. Mattel recalled millions of toys from the market. The CEO of Mattel apologized to the customers. Mattel also employed huge changes in its safety and quality check policies. It also acted in a very transparent way in the investigation and helped the government ...

Executive Summary

Lego Corporation is one of the oldest toy companies in the world. Its history can be traced back to as early as 1916. It has been largely known for its Lego Bricks, one of the most popular and profitable toys that company has ever released. Recently, however, the company has started to show signs of deterioration, mainly because of laggard growth in the industry and poor sales from its frequently diversified toy products. The objective of this paper is to discuss the different points of analysis applicable to Lego Group’s toy division and some alternative options or steps ...

Abstract

Competition in the market is determined by various factors based on the dynamics in the market. Various marketing studies have been developed to analyze market conditions in line with the development of strategies to ensure competitiveness of business. This paper draws from the school of thought of the VRIO model and the PESTEL analysis model to develop an overview and evaluation of the prevailing conditions in the Lego business. Lego, a toy manufacturing company, has recently undergone market-based challenges that have resulted in tough decisions on the part of the management in ensuring sustainability of the competitiveness of the company ...

Role of Marketers and Parents

The KGOY (or kids getting old younger) phenomenon is a situation wherein a young children pretend to be much older than their age and try to look mature. Researchers have mixed findings about whether this phenomenon was brought about by marketers or not. However, research has shown that marketers actually have a market segment defined as KGOY. That means they develop advertising and marketing campaigns precisely to tap and develop this market. The segment is fairly detailed and even has sub-segments as age group. The Barbie doll is one example of a toy that encourages young girls to aspire not only to become ...

I. Current Strategic Profile
LEGO is a well-known brand of construction toys that operates under the name of The Lego Group. LEGO’s flagship product includes brightly colored interlocking plastic bricks along with many mini figures, gears and other parts. The characteristics of LEGO toys include quality in every aspect, availability of extra sets, more LEGO toys gives the more value, creativity, imagination and development, long duration of play, quiet and healthy play, throughout the year play, fun for people belonging to all age groups, for boys and girls, and limitless play potential.

Mission

The mission of the company is “ ...

Hasbro Inc. is a worldwide leading company founded in 1923 dealing in the designing, production, marketing and sales of children and the entire family leisure moment entertainment materials which include toys, games including both high tech and traditional to various market segments across the globe. The company had achieved successful moments in the distribution and sales of toys and games until the financial year 2004 when its total sales reduced tremendously in the United States’ toy market, an issue that led to the company’s management team coming up with new strategies of coming up with more new innovative products, ...

Ans 1:

Mattel recalled nearly twenty million toys in a span of eighteen months and the loss incurred in recalling these toys ran into millions. All these toys were manufactured by Chinese suppliers who did not follow the norms required by the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). Nearly 2 million of the recalled toys were sprayed with high-lead content paint, or contained small magnets that could be easily swallowed by the children. These problems happened in Mattel as the Chinese suppliers did not perform the quality testing and Mattel’s auditing also failed to find these defective toys.
Mattel’s Asian toy ...

The competitive advantage of the Toy R Us is that it was self service, supermarket-style format. The self service style gave the customers the chance to view different toys and pick between a different range of products, this is because they had a bigger and better selection than any single toy store. Viewing of the range of the products, gave Toy R Us a competitive advantage over the other retail shops selling toys. This will help Japan because for them, a typical toy store was small and did not sell a wide range of products and their display areas were customarily cramped. They also ...

1. What are Mattel's core competencies? If innovation is not one of these, should it be? Is outsourcing a competency?
Mattel’s core competencies were in their brand, and corporate responsibility. In addition, the company had a good supply networks and product integrity. The company depended on movies and television shows and the creation of new toys. This was based on the brands that were already acquired or developed. The company, for example, put electronics in Playmobil characters. In addition, the company took advantage of the offshore manufacturing and economies of scale. Innovation was not one of Mattel’s core ...

For a long time now, Lego has been one of the most outstanding recognized toy brands. For 70 years, since Lego commenced its operations, the company has been prosperous; however, the company made its first big loss in 2004 amounting to $ 240 million. With the top managers facing numerous challenges in the marketing sector, the company has concentrated its efforts on creating an effective marketing strategy due to persistent declined in profitability since 1999 to the year 2004. This aspect coupled with many other factors has raised concern regarding the effectiveness of the marketing sector. The intent of this thesis ...

Ben is a 4 ½ year-old boy. He was observed in his suburban home along with his sister, Sally, who is nine months old. The children were observed for 90 minutes. Their mother was at home and remained in the kitchen, which adjoined the family room where the children were playing, during most of the observation. The children are first generation American. Both parents are from Sri-Lanka. At this time, their mother, Eromi, is a stay-at-home mother. Their father, Dilvan, is an engineer with the local public transportation company. They live in a modest, suburban, three-bedroom home in a safe community. The children are ...

Warfare in Toyland

Elliot Handler and Harold Matson started off as a garage workshop and became world leaders in manufacturing, design and marketing of toys. The combined their names to start Mattel. In the beginning they offered doll hoses picture frames and furniture only, but with the changing time Mattel introduced a three dimensional doll. This doll was named as Barbie and the idea of introducing such a doll was very unique and was a hit. The company’s financials ascended at a very high pace. The management was very happy with the results and was pretty much satisfied as there were no rivals in the industry. ...

MT460 Management Policy and Strategy

Based on revenue, Mattel, Inc is the largest toy producing company in the world. It produces products such as the Barbie dolls, Fisher Price, Matchbox toys, Hot Wheels, Master of the Universe, American Girl dolls and early 1980s, it produced video game consoles. The company derived its name from Elliot Handler and Harold “Matt” Matson who had founded Mattel Inc. in the year 1945.

Mattel Company which is a leader in the industry was recalling a variety of its products which had been exported and produced from China in the year 2007, products which included toothpaste, dog food seafood and tires. ...

1. Set forth and compare the business cases for each of the two projections under consideration by Emily Harris. Which do you regard as more compelling and worthwhile?
Emily Harris is tasked with determining which of two presented projects would be considered for investment by the New Heritage Doll Company, a successful toy manufacturer competing in the US$ 1.6 billion toy doll market. The two projects are Match My Doll and Make Your Doll, a new and ground-breaking concept aimed at expanding the company’s target clientele. Because of the limited room for capital investments and set criteria that New ...

I. Summary of Cases

A. FAO Schwarz

The 142-year-old toy company was forced to closed shop on that year after it declared bankruptcy twice in 2003. FAO Schwarz got into financial trouble after it could not keep up with the heavy price discounts offered on toys by Wal-Mart and Target. They were selling toys that were pricier than those also being sold by the two chain store giants.
But the turnaround for the toy firm came when new management came in, making it possible for the reopening of its Manhattan and Las Vegas stores. The new owners attributed their success to ...

Shaping the market offerings

1. At the second level of the customer value hierarchy, the marketer has to turn the core benefit into a basic product.
2. Design is the totality of features that affect how a product looks and functions in terms of customer requirements.
3. Top firms audit service performance by collecting voice of customer (VOC) measurements to probe customer satisfiers and dissatisfiers.
4. Services are typically produced and consumed simultaneously. This is an example of the inseparability characteristic of services.
5. In considering an observed price, consumers often compare it to an internal price called a reference price.
...

LEGO is a Danish company that was founded in 1916. Now this company is very popular around the world thanks to the legendary bright construction toys that develop imagination of the children. However, LEGO has been experiencing a very large number of problems since the late 1990s. In the case study the central focus is given to the LEGO’s business strategy that failed to respond to the changed buying habits and globalization issues that significantly reshaped the toy industry. Some of the reasons of the LEGO’s failure include the decision to open one more own plant in ...

Masri Toy Company Case Analysis

Introduction
Masri Toy Company is a family business registered in 1983 to create, design and distribute children toys and books to other retail firms spread out over several regions around the country. The business since it was established had been under the management of Samir’s father until 2008 when he died. One of the sons (Samir Masri) took over the management and leadership of the business from that point forward. Prior to the father’s death, the business performance had taken a declining trend a fact that even the father kept worried, however for the year 2009 to 2010, the ...

Management Strategy and Decision Making

According to the model, countries engage in international activities because of the advantages that arise from the relationships. Unlike firms, countries are not in competition with each other but rather engage in mutually benefiting relationships . The US provides a market for the toys while China provides manufacturing countries with cheap labor for the production of these toys. This is referred to as comparative advantage. The cost of manufacturing in the United States is relatively higher compared to the cost of manufacturing in China, a factor that has led many companies such as Mattel to outsource their manufacturing to vendors ...

Introduction

LEGO Group, a well-known family-owned firm, was started in 1932 by Ole Kirk Christiansen. It started with making wooden toys in Dutch province of Billund. The company continues to be handed over from one family son to another though it changed to making plastic brinks and toys. Its motto has been “Only the best is enough.” Since its launch, Lego continued to have relatively high sales and profitability until the rise of electronic entertainment that made its sales to grow sluggishly. It, therefore, increased innovation and diversified from historical core products, an attempt which failed. It also experimented with ...

Central Issue:

The question to be answered is how Mattel should respond from a strategic standpoint in light of a product recall that involved unsafe toys that were made in China. While the use of offshoring of labor is pervasive in the industry that Mattel works in, there are indeed other options and having “tainted” toys and other products that are used primarily, if not solely, by children is a huge problem for Mattel from a reputation and liability standpoint.

Recommended Course of Action:

Mattel is in a precarious position in that having the toys made in the United States or in other fully developed ...

The case concerns LEGO Group, which is a toy manufacturing company. The company had enjoyed a journey of highs and lows, but it managed to stand as an outstanding company in the toy industry. The company had been on a path of success for the best part of its existence since 1916 when it started as a company owned by Ole Kirk Kristiansen. The company had a wood workshop which began by building houses and furniture for farmers. Later, the company graduated to the manufacture of wooden toys, which can be counted on as the building block for the ...

Question 1 Response

BIG’s business model involves developing innovative toy concepts and sharing them with manufacturers who develop the products. Despite being a relatively small and young company, Big has managed to bring into the market the most innovative concepts when established companies feel they lack the necessary innovation. One of the reasons why BIG is so successful in developing innovative toy concepts when major companies find it difficult is because BIG is mainly focused on understanding consumers rather than technology. Big is not concerned with latest technologies that can be incorporated into the toy industry. Rather, the company goes out ...

Introduction

Management is a task that brings together the various aspects of the roles of managers. In particular, the tasks performed by managers in organizations are quite huge because it is essential that a person is courageous enough to deal with the various views and characteristics of people that make up the workforce of the organization (Rice, 2013). Therefore, the analysis of the effects of the management theories on the management roles of managers is a timely analysis that requires adequate time and resources for the investigation of the various aspects of the subject.

Part 1

The analysis will incorporate a case ...

Introduction

Amazon is an organization that started in 1994, as the earth’s biggest bookstore. The company in 1997, via IPO, raised $50 million. In 1999, the business explored new business models, marketplaces, and auctions. In 2000, after the fall in GP, the business shifted towards traditional retailers.
The objective of this paper is to analyze the case “Amazon.Com the Brink of Bankruptcy” presented by Lynda M. Applegate in 2013.
For the attainment of the purpose, the paper has been divided into seven segments. Each segment presents worthwhile information.

Financial statement analysis refers to the evaluation of the profitability, stability, ...

- What is the difference between a fad and an enduring product?
A fad is a trend that is wildly popular, but short-lived. Bergman (n.d) defines a fad as “irrational imitative behavior”. The Hula Hoop, which gained massive popularity sometime after its commercialization, is a good example of a fad. According to Talwar (2013), cultural, social, individual, and psychological reasons influence consumer purchases. The combination of these issues fuels fads. There are several characteristics of a fad. A fad has descriptive and “career” traits (Bergman n.d). In terms of descriptive traits, a fad should be homogenous, novel, and odd (Bergman, n.d). In terms of the ...

Marketing for Kids: A New Perspective

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
With the help of new, kid- friendly technologies, are savvy marketers gaining a sort of advantage over parents? Are toy marketers like Ganz , food marketers like McDonald’s and kid-apparel retailers such as 77kids by American Eagle too desperate to target kids? Some of the kids like Isabella Sweet spend almost an hour a day on Webkinz website. The site posts ads that reward kids with virtual currency that they can use to create sophisticated rooms for digital version of their Webkinz pets.
The world of kids-marketing has become extremely complex and tech-friendly. Marketers have become innovative ...

Recommendations

In regards to the recalls as conducted by the Mattel Inc. in 2007, significant recommendations are necessary not only to once again boost the sales of the company but also for the reaffirmation of the good rapport that had initially been created between the firm and its clients both locally and abroad. The recommendations have been particularly chosen based on the mood and depreciating confidence of the United States consumers in regards to the Chinese goods. (Bapuji & Beamish, 2008, p. 3) The recommendations encompass:

Revaluation of the location of the production facility and the diversification of the manufacturers, as well as, the supplies.

Rebuilding and strengthening the brand image of Mattel.
Researching and planning to conduct investments in ...

Question One

The sales of the Lego’s movie themed products keyed to popular film franchises, such as Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, and Spiderman are performing well according to the company’s main shareholder and the Chief Executive Officer Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen who has served the company from 1979 to 2004 (Lego). The increased sales can be attributed to the increased number of alliances with Walt Disney Company and Lucas Films, which is the creator of the popular Star Wars Series. According to my opinion, I think this was the right strategy for the company to adopt considering the ...

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Analysis of the United Display Cases, Inc. (UDCI)

UDCI believed it has a good product but he still hasn’t able to attract investors or convince banks for financing. For this goal, UDCI needs to present its break-even operating capital and projections of production volume that will yield maximum profitability. A successful product launch can be a major point in convincing financiers and it would need a cost-effective marketing strategy as current finances are limited.
For its plan to distribute through, it needs to determine a price it will pass to retailers that can generate more sales than direct selling.
There are no direct ...

Question 1

The upstream involves the flow refers to the movement of the numbers of the components like as the materials products to the supplier that comprises of the sources of the goods supply chain. Therefore the leapfrog’s suppliers are the upstream partners of the firm. The downstream involves the movement in that direction of the customers and therefore the downstream supply chain management refers to the retailer as well as the main consumers.

Question 2

11th, August 2003 the nationwide sale volume of the firm had a total of 360 sales units in the introductory weekend. The toy executive made extrapolations ...

Background

LEGO Group is a Danish, family business. Typical of family enterprises, growth is substantial in early company lifecycle phases, only to plummet – rapidly – few years later. The specific causes for LEGO Group's rapid decline in sales (and hence market share) fall into five strategic areas: (1) macroeconomic variables, (2) brand identity, (3) supply chain management, (4) retailing strategy, and (5) product design & development. As shown in every growth indicator, most notably company's cash flows over 1995 – 2004, LEGO Group has witnessed not only sharp decline in sales growth but also, sadly enough for company's owners and executives, a risk ...

Curriculum Strategy

Poor children have been faced with poverty as a risk factor in their success academically. Some children who come from poor backgrounds are affected in their school readiness. The poverty should not be an obstacle to the normal learning of a child from an early age. Children come from diverse backgrounds, with diverse cultures, this makes them unique and hence when performing an assessment to them one should be acknowledged. The adequate assessment and analysis of the activity of the child, the right chosen method for the child’s learning will help to avoid the problems in the future ...

Walt Disney is a company which has had the fortune to stay as amongst the most recognized brands throughout the world. Their business strategy has been simple -- focus on the making Disney a family brand, and grow exponentially in every aspect of the media and entertainment industry. Hence, the company began in the line of expanding their business vertically, thereby becoming a self sustained company and brand all over the world. To begin with, the company started with being an animation picture producing company. As its characters, Mickey Mouse and others grew famous and began to be recognized ...

Management within a corporate culture assumes many roles and responsibilities, in relationships both with the down-line employees and with the up-line superiors. Effective communication is vital in the accomplishment of achieving company goals through strategic planning, evaluation and improvement of processes, and creating an environment of motivation.
However, there are times when a crisis occurs within the company that demonstrates how management works with the employees within the sphere of his influence. In this case analysis, a highly competitive toy company has a product in development that promises to push the corporation significantly ahead in terms of market share and profits. The ...

Abstract

This paper seeks to examine what constitutes artificial intelligence, the principles behind it, its application, and the cases whereby artificial intelligence has proved to be a success. On a broad scale, this paper finds that artificial intelligence is a relatively new field, but its outcomes are promising. Creators of artificially intelligent systems aim to make machines capable of making independent decisions, and artificially intelligent objects heavily rely on agents to be able to make the independent decisions. Artificial intelligence is widely applied in various fields such as medicine, banking and the video gaming industry among others. Future forecasts prove that artificial intelligence ...

Introduction

Social learning theory is a comprehensive theory that encompasses interrelated concepts about human behavior. The first to develop this theory is the American psychologist, Albert Bandura, in the 1960s. Bandura theorized that people learn behavior through observation, which he proved through his ‘Bobo doll’ experiment. Social learning theorists believe that human behavior is not just a product of the ‘cause and effect’ phenomenon as what behaviorism suggests, but rather, human beings processes information from the environment and learns their behavior over time. According to Bandura, man is a thinking creature; that he is not helpless to the psychological and ...

This essay describes Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) using the case of Jake, a 2 year old AS patient. It will attempt to use the case in demystifying the experiences and symptoms of AS in children. Rudy (2008) defines Asperger’s Syndrome as a form of autistic disorder that causes its victims serious deficits in their interpersonal skills. The article further relates children that suffer from AS to those that lack the ability to resolve conflicts, manage their anger, participate in teamwork, and communicate effectively and assertively. It implies that such individuals would not only dislike changes in routine, but also display ...

- Introduction
Cherry Tree Learning Materials Company wants to diversify its business from just selling its products to children with special needs to also selling them to normal children which will increase the company’s revenue. My role is to advice the company executives on what they need to do in order to achieve their goals.2.0 Problem Statement
At the moment the company is unable to fulfill the needs of the special needs market as it only sells to teachers and yet there is the untapped market of the parents of the children with special needs. The ...

There has been a proliferation of many businesses especially in the latter half of the twenty first century. As with any sector which experiences such tremendous growth rates, conflicts between various business players are bound to surface. This may range from conflicts between players in different businesses to conflict within players in the same business. Subsequently, many countries have enacted laws and regulations which seek to ensure that such disputes are resolved as amicably as possible. Pursuant to such laws, many countries have established such entities as competition authorities whose main purpose is to ensure that organizations adhere to fair ...

If I could change any major agent of socialization in my upbringing, it could be mass media. The mass media is an impersonal communication that is aimed at a large number of audiences using technology to spread massive information. During my childhood development, I loved playing violent video games so much that I would even compromise having my meals. I spent a lot of time playing these games to the extent that I could go to schools at times without doing my homework.
I developed much interest in these games and occasionally played with toy guns with my friends in ...

Early Childhood Development for a Mentally Retarded Child

Early childhood development is a common stage in human life, which defers in individuals child pace brought about by his/her interaction with the environment. Several factors influence children emotional, cognitive and physical changes some posing challenges to children development. In order to gain insight into children’s behavioral, thinking and strategies a step by step careful observation of the changes are considered for investigation bearing in mind the ages and sex of the children (Swift, 2005).
Considering a 4-year-old child (still in early childhood), being is introduced to Brooklyn Flatbush day care with the conditions that he is mentally challenged.

Observations and explanation

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The importance of the global market to the growth of Mattel

The importance of the global market to the overall growth and sustainability of Mattel can be seen the manner in which it handle the recall incident which had put it in the unfavourable position of having to make tough decisions. It should be illustrative to appreciate the fact that Mattel was confronted with the stringent regulations in the United States of America that served to reflect the manufacturing regime differences between the United States of America. While the contest involved merely simplistic regulations as to the high content of lead paint in its toys, that it was acceptable in ...

David Parker Ray was born in November 6, 1939 in Belen, New Mexico. He died in May 28, 2002, at the age of sixty two years. His death was as a result of myocardial infarction. During his life, Ray was linked with serial killings. Approximately fourteen to sixty killings were executed by him. He did his killing operations in the states of New Mexico, in United States. In March 22, 1999, he was apprehended.
The serial killer operated as from 1950 to March 22, 1999. Besides killing people, Ray was suspected of involvement in the torturing of women. His ...