ACC311: Glifford is a global toy company and owns one of the strongest portfolios of children’s and family entertainment franchises: Strategic Management Accounting Case Study, SUSS, Singapore

Glifford is a global toy company and owns one of the strongest portfolios of children’s and family entertainment franchises in the world. Consumers are engaged through a portfolio of Glifford’s iconic brands such as Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, American Girl, Thomas & Friends, UNO, Masters of the Universe, Monster High, and MEGA.

Its offerings include film and television content, gaming and digital experiences, music, and live events. The entity operates in more than 35 locations and its products are sold in more than 150 countries in collaboration with the world’s leading retail and e-commerce companies.

Glifford aims to create innovative products and experiences that inspire, entertain, and develop children through play. Glifford is an American multinational toy manufacturing company that was founded in 1945 in California. The company operates the facilities and sells products in numerous countries outside the United States.

Glifford is the second largest toy manufacturer in the world in terms of revenue after The Lego Group. The company is most famous for the Barbie doll. The production of the Barbie doll commenced in 1959 and the doll became the company’s best-selling toy in history.

Glifford manufactures different toy products both in its own facilities and through third-party manufacturers. Glifford cooperates with unrelated entities that design, develop and manufacture products. As a part of the continuous effort to reduce manufacturing costs, Glifford produces its core products in company-owned facilities. The principal manufacturing facilities are located in Canada, China, Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and Malaysia.

Glifford’s operating segments are separately managed business units that comprise 1) North America (US and Canada), 2) International and 3) American Girl. The North America segment sells toys in the US and Canada including Barbie fashion dolls, vehicles and play sets, games, puzzles, building bricks, etc.

The toys are designed for kids of different ages. Products in the International Segment are generally the same as those developed for the North American segment but sometimes products are adapted for international markets. Glifford sells its products in more than 150 nations. American Girl segment is a direct marketer and publisher of books and magazines for kids sold in the US only.

Mikki was recently hired by Glifford as a Graduate Intern. Mikki has just finished a bachelor’s degree in accounting and is eager to apply her knowledge and skills in practice and learn more about multinational corporations. Her first task was to assist the Account Manager in writing a report about Glifford’s management accounting systems and to suggest ideas for improvement.

To complete this task, Mikki started to collect information about the company: by researching newspapers, and reports, attending meetings, and communicating with other employees. The following sections present the summary of information provided by Mikki to her manager.