Mattel Overhauls Executive Suite
By RACHEL BECK, AP Business Writer
NEW YORK (AP) - Mattel Inc. announced a major overhaul of its senior management team on Wednesday, the latest step by the world's biggest toymaker to revive sales and profits.
The shakeup includes the resignation of president and chief operating officer Bruce Stein, who analysts say may have clashed with chairman and CEO Jill Barad over the direction of the company.
Gary Baughman, president of the Fisher-Price preschool division, will also leave the company.
The restructuring comes as Mattel rethinks the way it does business. Its profits were under pressure last year, and sales of its traditional toys - like Barbie dolls - have been sliding.
In addition, many of its most important retail customers, including giant Toys R Us, drastically cut back their orders and asked for delivery of inventory closer to the time that they wanted to put the toys on store shelves.
Mattel has been aggressively developing CD-ROMs and other high-tech toys to better keep pace with sophisticated interests of today's children. It also is exploring new retail channels, like the Internet and direct sales.
''The new organizational structure we have developed will provide for faster decision making, and encourage action that is entrepreneurial and responsive to change,'' Barad said in a statement.
As part of the reorganization, Mattel will be divided into five divisions, each headed by a president who will report directly to Barad.
The units will include boys, girls/Barbie, Fisher Price, Mattel Media and the Pleasant Company, which makes the American Girl dolls as well as focuses on Mattel's direct-to-consumer business.
''This restructuring is all about cutting costs,'' said Jim Silver, who runs The Toy Book, a New York-based trade publication. "I think part of the problem Mattel was having is there were too many people with the same job. There was too much overlap.''
But analysts also said the loss of Stein could hurt Mattel. The 44-year-old is a seasoned toy industry veteran with lengthy experience at Mattel, as well as at Sony Interactive Entertainment and Hasbro.
''I thought that Bruce Stein was one of those people who was a visionary about toys, and really gets where kids are today and what they want to play with,'' said Chris Byrne, a toy industry consultant.
While Stein said in a statement that he ''needed a new challenge,'' analysts, who spoke on condition of anonymity, questioned whether the decision to leave was all his. |
