McDonald's reaffirmed its growth targets
McDonald's CEO Jim Skinner along with senior management, reaffirmed the company's commitment to the growth strategy of being better, not just bigger, by continuing to execute their successful Plan to Win. Skinner said they have delivered 54 consecutive months of comparable sales increases.
- Average annual sales and revenue growth of 3-5%
- Average annual operating income growth of 6-7%
- Return of incremental invested capital in the high teen

CPK expands into South Korea
California Pizza Kitchen, Inc. opened its first location in South Korea earlier in the month. This new location seats 200 people and is located and allows guests to take center stage and watch as all of the CPK innovative dishes are prepared. A special menu is also available for children 12 and under.

Former Hasbro CEO speaks up
Former Hasbro's CEO Alan G. Hassenfeld served as chairman and CEO of Hasbro, the toy maker founded by his grandfather in 1923, for 18 years. He also serves as co-chair of the International Concil of Toy Industries' CARE Foundation and chief adviser to the China Toy Association.

Recently he spoke up regarding the many issues and bad reputation toys manufactured in China had given the industry. He outlined some facts and misconceptions arisen by the recalls. Here is an outline of the things talked about:

Misconception: Product design and quality issues are endemic in the toy industry.
Fact: All of the products recalled so far in 2007 amount to about nine-tenths of 1% of the 3 billion toys sold in the United States each year. There are many hundreds of toy brands (500 in the Toy Industry Association), but only four accounted for 75% of all the products recalled. And just two of those four accounted for about 54% of the toys recalled for excess lead in their paint.

Misconception: China is one of the main culprits in all these recalls; it is their fault that our children are in danger.
Fact: That is simply not true. Companies manufacture, import and sell products; countries do not. The Consumer Product Safety Commission rightly holds those who order the toys and bring them into the country responsible for the safety of those toys. Equally important is the fact that about 74% of the toys recalled were for design-related issues, not manufacturing-related ones. The designs are the primary responsibility of those who order the toys, not only of those who manufacture them. Let us take responsibility for our actions and not blame others.

Misconception: China is responsible for the loss of American jobs in the toy industry.
Fact: Again, not true; China is simply the latest country where production has concentrated so that its cheaper labor costs can translate into lower prices to consumers. Toy production started moving out of the United States over 50 years ago, going first to Japan, then to Taiwan and Korea and other Asian countries. It was in the mid-1980s that China began its export of toys.

Misconception: The toy industry is so focused on reducing costs that it is willing to use factories that mistreat their workers.
Fact: The worldwide toy industry is an acknowledged leader in ensuring that workers in its suppliers' factories are treated fairly. The International Council of Toy Industries' (ICTI) Code of Business Practices, one of the first such codes in the world, obligates its members to treat workers fairly. Through its ICTI CARE Process, a comprehensive system has been developed to ensure that factories adhere to the standards established by the Code.

In the past three years, nearly 1,200 factories employing over a million workers have entered the program. Its Seal of Compliance, issued to factories who have achieved those standards, are accepted by just about all of the major toy retailers in the U.S. There is still much to do, as this is a long journey that brings retailers, brands, civil society and government together. For now, we must continue to monitor and audit all factories in the system, but our primary objective is to build capacity through education programs. Our stated goal is one global standard for the ethical manufacturing of children's products.

An important point about the U.S. toy industry's safety standards--they are voluntary, for the most part, but are the best in the world, widely emulated by other countries. By the time the U.S. Toy Industry Association's Conformity Assessment program is in full operation next year, the U.S. will also have the best safety testing standards and procedures in the world