When Robert "Bob" Eckert was appointed chief executive officer (CEO) of Mattel Toys in May 2000, he found a company that is widely regarded as lost. Its former CEO, Jill Barad, who brought back from the Barbie toy dead in 1990 and CEO since 1997, had to leave months as revenues plummeted. The company was now losing about $ 1 million a day, and Barbie, the cornerstone of the company's sales and profits for ten years, was aging. Mattel stock price plummeted from $ 46 per share in 1998 to the current low of $ 10. Bob Eckert and his team moved quickly to reduce operating costs, deprive massive money losers, refocus on core products and brands, all in the hope to revive profitability. Financial and operational measures were fast and, in some cases, violent. The market had a patient with Bob Eckert, but now, in the summer of 2004, four years after its entry, it was time to review progress and to update and revise expectations. Toy industry was shamefully short cycles, and many fear that Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher Price, and American Girl will no longer provide the necessary growth Mattel. The business mantra of profitable growth was very real Bob Eckert and Mattel.
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by Michael Moffett Source: Thunderbird School of Global Management 19 pages. Publication Date: September 25, 2008. Prod. #: TB0045-PDF-ENG
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