His visibility to the dramatic shifts in our consumer base without any plans to deal with the enormity of change coming our way, is unacceptable.
M-Go, your fall guy is there for the taking...he needs to go. His last onward email is just the type of BS nonsense he believes justifies his multi million dollar contract.
He adds nothing to the bottom line,
please show him the door.
Well said last poster...great insight! Plus FP and AG will fair much better elsewhere.
Look, the state of the company is due to poor vision and planning 10-20 years ago when we put all our eggs in the Fashion doll category basket and not work just as hard on making all the brands profitable and dominant. It will take 10+ more years to correct it because it's not a quick fix.
RD isn't the savior because he's only perpetuated the reliance on fashion dolls, and not the diversification from it. The change in the retail landscape has been happening for over 10 years but once you go down the path of single category focus (fashion dolls) and deliver a strong dividend, it's very hard to change direction no matter how much you see it and want to change.
Mattel is now being forced to change by consumers, retailers and the shift in economic hierarchy. It has no choice. RD is too inexperienced and incompetent to see this. He's simply not smart enough to know what to do. This is why he's partnered with Sid the Snake (who knows even less but claims to know even more). This partnership is a distraction and neither of them is capable of making any impact. The sooner the both of them are fired, the better Mattel will be (once it sells off Fisher-Price and AG so it an fund Barbie and HW).
After 30 years, my passion to work here is stronger than it has ever been. Where we are today has nothing to do with a lack of effort from those of us in the trenches working tirelessly, but more so from a lack of vision and strategic planning from those in charge.
That lapse in judgement falls squarely on R.D.
You can spin it however you want, but he is mostly to blame. The company was his to lead...if you were in charge of paying him for how well he has done his job, would you have resigned his contract?
Yeah I'd fire you.
Because if you don't perform as much as you complain then you're a big reason for the state of the company. There are no return to the glory days. Accept your new normal. No place for spoiled bunch of princesses.
Glad I don't work for the last poster looser!
Oh Steve Jobs can I please sU<{ your d!C#{?
What a loser.
"Oh please. Steve Jobs was not a god you wieners. He was a Jackass."
The stupidity of some posters...yes, he was difficult, but he knew how to lead and was fiercely passionate about product, how to market it, and quality...no exceptions.
Also, you just double down with this brilliant statement.
"That's why some of you get laid off and people like me get promoted."
Greed must run through your veins you promoted backstabbing idiot.
good thread - thriving
Ah the Steve jobs groupies have shown up finally.
So by your reasoning if the product you are working on does not do well or fails then you shouldn't get paid right? I mean if that's the model you're proposing for CEOs why wouldn't it apply to everyone?
Oh maybe because you think it's not your fault. But it's sometimes not anyone's fault you dunces. Sometimes $#it happens. And at Mattel it happens a lot.
I think if you had any pride if your product failed to sell you should quit. Yes. That's a great way to run a company.
You guys have gum balls for brains.
Oh please. Steve Jobs was not a god you wieners. He was a jackass. And mattel makes toys not expensive lifestyle electronics. None of you could work at apple anyway.
And if you don't think greed is in human nature you're sadly in denial. You must be the one always complaining that life isn't fair. Ummm guess what, it isn't. That's why some of you get laid off and people like me get promoted. The long arc of time does not bend towards your idea of justice. It's random. You can say it's just as good odds as msnore's testing results. Hahahahahahaha.
One trick ponies = one trick phonies = very, very bad price/value ratio plus cost to dislodge...brilliant, thanks genius mgt./board...guessing would have taken the job for half the comp...and still be overpaid...still wonder how exec chair skates unscathed...
...to "greed is human nature" poster...what a wonderful parent you must be or will make...doesn't seem like you really think it is sad...hope I never know you...
For Steve Jobs that show in leadership worked out pretty well for all concerned. Apple stock price rose from a low of $3.19 in 1997, when Jobs returned as CEO, to $365 when he retired in 2011. Jobs' shares became worth more than $2 billion, and Apple's other shareholders did extremely well too.
Contrast that with a CEO who pockets a million-dollar salary and is guaranteed to receive a bonus every year, regardless of performance. In that case, there's no particular incentive for him or her to perform well...Onward?
"You can't cap greed. It's human nature." What a load of crap...when Steve Jobs was asked to come back to Apple to turn that ship around he refused to take a salary.
True leaders inspire by example...not greed.
You wish RD was rebutting this thread. The guy is actually busy trying to save your a$$e$. Maybe you think he's got his feet on his desk smoking a stogie while the titanic goes down. It's easier to think that. Of course he'll be much better off than any of us if the ship sinks. But that's not his fault that he was able to negotiate a good package. I would if someone was willing to pay me that much. And we're all part of the culture here. All of us want to get promoted get a bigger bonus etc. You can't cap greed. It's human nature. When things go bad you get all lord of the flies. And that is the sad part.
RD should bow out or be fired for ineffective leadership and has a hand in the demise of a prominent American company. Also he should not be paid a dime. Money to fight his contract payout would be well spent! As a shareholder , do not tolerate these pay outs. Hope the class action lawsuit is litigated and hits RD's wallet.
Based on the replies to this post, King RD himself must be rebutting. Sorry that you were not the heir apparent.
Shame on you...everyone realizes duplication of executive overhead is killing our ability to be cost competitive...do you?
Bow out gracefully, set an example...we have had enough egocentric leadership around here.
Short of telling the sales guys not to over ship product what should he do?
All the brands are over extended. Toy brands don't engender the same type of loyalty anymore.
The rest is up to the product people and actually putting money into the marketing of the product. Not commercials 2 weeks before Christmas
The RD experiment has gone on long enough. It isn't all on him for Mattel's decline but he is showing no signs he knows how to pull Mattel out of this. And if it is truly hopeless and the entire industry is going this way, what does Mattel have to lose by letting him go?
"....deep state here"? Guess we can disregard the last post. Someone that bought into the whole sophomoric Trump thing. Isn't there an alt right, minority hating rally you can attend instead of posting here? Or are you afraid you will you be shouted down by sane people. Much easier to spew your thoughts here than deal with that, I suppose.
"Who knew the toy industry could be so complicated" Ahhh.... Duh.
Haha 😂😂
"Onward to Downward"......truly inspirational. He's been at the top for several years so unfortunately he should take the credit or the blame. In this case blame because he has allowed the failing upper mismanagement to stay in place.
He's out of touch of who actually does the work as he's surrounded by sycophants. Sad but true, the cancer is deep state here.
Yo, original poster, do you even know what the term "fall guy" means?
"Fall guy is a colloquial phrase that refers to a person to whom blame is deliberately and falsely attributed in order to deflect blame from another party."
So RD should go as you would have blame deliberately and falsely attributed to him in order to deflect blame from another party (in this case, the ailing toy industry).
Nice. Sounds about how you'd operate if you were in charge here.
I agree with you 1hpx.
You can either sit there and play the blame game while you pretend you're not part of it or you can roll up your sleeves. But like you said you're either departed or you're hiding and pretending you're not affected. The latter is just idiotic.
You may not like that bugger RD but I don't see anyone else trying. I see a lot of complaining and moaning. It might be a cliche to say it but if you can't be a part of the solution then pack your bags and your bottle of whines and don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split yah. Amen.
I suppose, original poster, if you were in his position you would just knock it out of the park....yeah, right. I love all these armchair quarterbacks on here. Probably yell at the TV every weekend at their team's coach/players but couldn't even make the cut in high school. Typical.
Things are awry industry wide....check out the latest news about Lego, genius. I'm sure they, no doubt, could have used some of your sage advice. 1,400 laid off??
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/fortune/2017/09/05/lego-staff-cuts-sales/%3fsource=dam
And let's not forget faltering TRU.....
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.cnbc.com/amp/2017/09/06/toys-r-us-weighs-possible-bankruptcy-filing.html
Just be glad you're still getting a pay check, unless you're one of the many dearly departed who scribe away on here, because you might be going the way of the dinosaurs in a few years. Then we might be seeing you behind the register at the Hawthorne Home Depot. "Hey, didn't you used to...."
Yes, the landscape has changed.
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I always find his "Onward" super affirming and inspirational.