Very conservative, crucially imbalanced - Anonymous employee Mattel Employee Review

2.0
Jun 28, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Good benefits, holidays. Weak leadership means slack work environment for lazy people, lots of opportunity to contribute for self-motivated people.

Cons

Very focused on old-school commodity-manufacturing business approach. Principle business values are savings and cost cutting; essentially no commitment to growth through investment in people, processes or innovation. Doesn't understand or embrace the direction the industry is going, or the impacts on its core business of digital, technology, and changing play patterns. Significant bonuses, and stocks, are reserved for executives. Executive incentives are too large, and are based on short-term performance, so no one will take risks or think for the future, or invest in any timeframe longer than they can see themselves personally benefiting. Punishes failure and unsuccessful risk. Innovation is difficult and not rewarded (unless someone gets lucky and a project they are associated with happens to make a ton of cash). These factors create a climate of fear and weak, indecisive leadership. Buys outside ideas while internal ideas languish. Weak leadership causes long development cycles, with a great many unnecessary variants explored, creative frustration, and business costs due to the large number of projects cancelled late in the cycle. Climate of fear and imbalanced incentives also create an extremely hierarchical organization, a strongly consensus-based culture, and a strong wall between individual contributors and executives. A cynical emphasis on "team” is used as an excuse to not praise, encourage, reward or retain individuals. The overall tone of the culture is one of lip service to poor ideas if endorsed by higher-ups, empty cheers and false smiles. The organization thinks of the business as a machine, and of people as interchangeable. No possibility of career growth for the majority of employees. Quality of people is low. Ranks and leadership are both full of deadwood, sycophants and the underqualified. Best and brightest don't stay long.

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5.0
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Pros

Mattel is a notable name and you get to work with some really great brands.

Cons

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4.0
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CEO approval
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Pros

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Cons

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