1. Mattel's global sourcing in China, like all other toy manufacturers, was based on both low-cost manufac- turing, low-cost labor, and a growing critical mass of factories competitively vying for contract manufactur- ing business. Do you think the product recalls and product quality problems are separate from or part of pursuing a low-cost country strategy? Mattel was forced to deliver a humiliating public apol- ogy to 'the Chinese people' on Friday over the damag- ing succession of product recalls of China-made toys that the US toy maker has announced in recent months. In a carefully stage-managed meeting in Beijing with a senior Chinese official, which, unusually, was open to the media, Thomas Debrowski, Mattel's executive vice-president for worldwide operations, read out a prepared text that played down the role of Chinese factories in the recalls. "Mattel takes full responsibility for these recalls and apologises personally to you, the Chinese people, and all of our customers who received the toys," Mr Debrowski said. The apology was in stark contrast to recent comments from Robert Eckert, Mattel's chief executive. In testimony to the US Senate last week, he suggested that the fault for the group's recent prod- uct recalls lay with outside contractors. "We were let down, and so we let you down," he said. -"Mattel in Apology to Chinese," Financial Times, September 22, 2007, p. 15.