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 September 24, 2007)
