HSK - An apology at long last

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An apology at long last

Updated: 2007-09-24 07:02

The apology finally came from Mattel for the damage its repeated recalls
of Chinese-made toys has done to the reputation of the Made-in-China
label.

Thomas Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice-president for worldwide
operations, admitted on Friday that the vast majority of the 21 million
Chinese-made toys recalled were pulled off shelves because of a flaw in
Mattel's design, not as a result of the work of Chinese manufacturers.

The apology, though delayed, should help dispel the suspicion American
customers harbor against Chinese-made products and clean up the stain the
recalls left on the innocent Chinese workers who make a living doing
honest labor.

Telling the truth about flawed products and keeping customers well
informed should transcend any other concern whenever a quality problem
occurs. This is a basic professional ethic that any business must abide
by.

As a matter of fact, no party benefits from withholding the truth.

Everybody knows that the American people have benefited a great deal from
Chinese-made products. Telling them only part of the truth about the
recalls has infringed upon their right to know the whole story. Because
they were unable to make informed judgments, they might have been
deprived of otherwise good options when deciding what to buy.

The impact on the innocent Chinese workers who have been made to pay for
other's mistakes has been even more deleterious.

Nor has any of this been good for Mattel, either. Its reputation will be
impaired when the whole truth about the recalls is finally made public.

However, it is not too late to mend the fence even though the sheep has
escaped. It was wise for Mattel to make the apology. Frankness from all
sides will pave the way for further cooperation.

Lessons learned in the past can guide us in the future. Transparency
about product quality is important to customers, not only for
Chinese-made products, but also for those made elsewhere.

The effort Chinese quality control authorities have made to deal with
even the small portion of problematic products that were exported
reflects the importance the Chinese government attaches to product
quality, both for domestic and overseas consumers.

Protectionism and concerns about the trade imbalance should never prevent
us from presenting the whole picture of product quality to customers.

(China Daily 09/24/2007 page4)

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