Mattel to Shift Management as Spear Retires

Mattel Inc. said Chairman Arthur S. Spear, who will be 66 tomorrow, is retiring Dec. 31 after 22 years with the Hawthorne toy company, and Mattel is reorganizing its top management as a result.

Mattel said its board, at its regularly scheduled Nov. 6 meeting, will abolish the post of chairman and the two-man office of the chief executive, which was shared by Spear and Mattel President Thomas Kalinske. Those duties will be assumed by an executive committee composed of Kalinske, Mattel International President John Amerman and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Ray Ferris, a Mattel spokesman said.

Kalinske, 42, will be in charge of domestic business and product development. Amerman, 54, will be responsible for international business and operations. Ferris, 45, will handle finance and administration.

By creating an executive committee, the board is sticking with the “balanced management” concept that brought about the office of chief executive, only now the group is being expanded to three members from two, the spokesman said. “It’s a concept that’s been successful for us,” he said.