http://money.excite.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt_top.jsp?cat=TOPBIZ&feed=ap&src=601§ion=news&news_id=ap-d8rgur4g0&date=20070907&alias=/alias/money/cm/nwLOS ANGELES (AP) — In the seven years since CEO Robert Eckert took over Mattel Inc., the world's largest toy maker has gone from struggling with sagging sales and unhappy shareholders to a leaner, more profitable company. Now, the man credited with that turnaround is on the defensive, forced to explain to Congress how some of his decisions resulted in three high-profile recalls this summer involving millions of Chinese-made, lead-tainted toys not long before the holiday shopping season begins.
"The real issue or question lies with not so much how he's handling it all, but how the heck does this happen on his watch?" said Linda Bolton Weiser, analyst with Oppenheimer & Co. "Why wasn't he aware that there appears to be a quality and monitoring and testing issue in his company?"
Eckert, 53, declined an interview request from The Associated Press.
Among other things, he put the company back on track by closing what was then Mattel's last U.S. factory in Kentucky in favor of shifting more production at less expensive plants and subcontractors in China and Mexico.
The move was in line with what Mattel and other toy companies had done for decades. More than 80 percent of toys sold in U.S. stores are now made in China, and other toy makers have also been stung recently by recalls of Chinese-made products.
But Mattel has taken more of a beating because of the scope of its recalls and the fact that it had cultivated an image of being an industry leader when it came to controlling its production in China. About 65 percent of Mattel's toys are made in China, but the toy maker has stood out among its rivals because it owns many of its factories there. About 50 percent of Mattel's production in China is produced in company-owned plants.
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