Mattel Inc. Assignment Read Case Study 19: “Mattel Incorporated in 2018: Can Ynon Kreiz Save the Toys” and complete assignment. 1. Conduct a Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the Toy Industry. Porters...

Mattel Inc. Assignment
Read Case Study 19: “Mattel Incorporated in 2018: Can Ynon Kreiz Save the Toys” and complete assignment.
1. Conduct a Porter’s Five Forces analysis of the Toy Industry.
Porters Five Forces of the Toy Industry:
Threat of New Entrants-
Threat of New Entrants was low because the market was already saturated and tough competition was present in the market. The taste and preferences of customers had also shifted from traditional toys to online gaming industry, making the industry less attractive to new entrants.
Competitive Rivalry
The competition in Toy industry was high because of existence of many players. The competition was intense due to existence of players like MGA Entertainment.
Bargaining Power of Buyers
Bargaining Power of Buyers is high because in 2017, 37% of company sales were due to three customers – Wal-Mart, Toys, R. Since the customers are few and comprise of major portion of sales, therefore the buyers possess strong bargaining power.
Bargaining Power of Supplies
Mattel participated in the US Toy and Craft supplies wholesaling Industry. Because of difficult market conditions the toy industry was facing, the wholesalers were integrating vertically and directly going to sell the customers, also many consolidations were happening in the industry. Because of this consolidation and wholesalers directly going to customers the bargaining power of suppliers is high.
Threat of Substitution
Customers taste and preferences were shifting. There was a huge shift in the toy market worldwide. Children were shifting to online games.
Therefore, the threat to substitution was present and was high in the form of online gaining industry and ecommerce retailers like Amazon who has defeated the Brick and Mortar Model
2. Is it a competitive industry? Why or why not? Discuss.
Answer:
Intensive Competition is present in industry; hence the industry is very competitive due to presence of large players like MGA Entertainment, Margo, etc. Companies like Amazon with their ecommerce business model was also posing a great threat to these companies which followed brick and mortar model.
3. What strategies does Mattel employ? Discuss and analyze.
Answer:
Strategies Employed by Mattel
· Investing in redesigning and creating new designs
· Setting manufacturing units in Asian countries to take advantage of cheaper costs.
· Introducing Disney and other popular fictional characters in toys like Harry Potter.
· Using social media platforms like Facebook to market its products due to increasing use of social media platforms by children and parents.
4. Looking at Mattel’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, determine if Mattel can gain and sustain a competitive advantage in the toy industry. Why or why not?
Answer:
Sustainable advantage means the advantage which can be sustained over a long period of time such that it is unique to company and cannot be imitated by competitors.
Competitive advantage is the advantage which differentiates the company from its competitors and is not easy to imitate.
Mattel can gain sustainable and competitive advantage because of its...