MANAGEMENT YESTERDAY AND TODAY (Manager's dilemma)
You Rarely see anything orginal anymore in this industry. Usually, everybody copies everybody else's ideas. this harsh assessment of the toy industry by an industry analyst might surprise you. Yet, when lvy Ross (pictured below), senior vice president of worldwide girls design at Mattel Toys, needed a new hit toy she was determined to do something original.Mattel's most popular products include Barvies for girls and hot Wheels for boys. When lvy and Adrenne Fontanella (president of the girls division) wanted to develop a new hit in a new market, they did not want just another doll. They knew from market research that sewing and jewelry kits were popular with girls, but that "Legolike construction sets" were more popular 3with bous. They also knew that the resson was not that girls did not like to build thing; it was that girls build differently from boys The challenge was to innovate a building toy that would appeal to girls.
To inspire innovative thinking, Ross put together a team from various departments to collaborate on this new product. Outside experts and Mattel's own child psychology expert schoooled the team in architecture and play patterns. The team also watched groups of girls play. Lvy dubbed the tean's innovation process Projectg Platypus. She said, "Why a platypus? When Ilooked up the difinition, it said an uncommon mix of different species." And, that's a good description of what it takes to be immovative.
One of the hardest adjustment for the team initally was the lack of structure. Lvy let the team organize itself and encouraged members to align themselves with whatever tasks thy were passionate about--toy design, package design, marketing, and so forth. What ded the platypi come up with? A toy for 5 to 10 year old girls called the Ello Creation System that consisted of colorful, easy-to-use plastic pieces and reusable stickers designed for the iopen-ended, creative way girls play-an innovative way. Put yourself in lvy's position. What can she learn from project Platypus to help her better manage innovation throughout her division?