Fisher Price
Company Overview
In 1930, just before the great depression, Herman Fisher; a toy and games salesmen, Irving Price; a retiree from a variety chain store and Helen Schelle; a toy shop operator founded the toy company Fisher-Price. With a strong belief ingrained in the value of “play” the company manufactured toys of solid construction and good value for the money. In 1931 Fisher Price experienced moderate success by taking 16 of their toys, made of steel and wood, to the American International toy Fair. Since then the desire for their toys, as well as the value of the company, has grown tremendously. By the 1950’s Fisher Price began using plastic for their toys and by the end of the decade had created 39 toys made of plastic.
Headquartered in East Aurora, NY Fisher Price is home to roughly 5,000 toys of which our children have grown very familiar. Brands such as Little People, Power Wheels, View-Master, Rescue Heroes, Dora the Explorer and See ‘n Say (Fisher Price, 2008). The Quaker Oats Company acquired Fisher Price soon after Herman Fisher retired as President in 1969. In 1991 the company was spun off and became a publicly traded company and later merged with Mattel, Inc. in 1993. Since that time the company has become an international leader in the toy industry with annual sales totaling over $1.9 billion in 2004.
Key Findings
Fisher Price as a way to effectively run their business has long utilized project management. As part of their creative atmosphere, a team approach is used when determining design, marketing strategies and the risk involved for introducing new products to the public. When a risk event is identified a ...