Mattel Inc. promoted controller Kevin M. Farr to chief financial officer Thursday in a move that an analyst said could lend stability to the company's hierarchy following the resignation last week of chief executive Jill Barad.<br />Farr, 42, succeeds Harry J. Pearce, who announced his retirement plans last March.<br />In addition to holding the job of controller since 1996, Farr is a senior vice president.<br />By announcing a replacement for Pearce, Mattel has removed some of the uncertainty about the company's future management, said Sean McGowan, an analyst with Gerard Klauer Mattison.<br />``To me its a step toward fixing the problems,'' he said.<br />Barad resigned after Mattel reported a steep loss for the fourth quarter. The board appointed two of its own members to interim leadership roles, picking William Rollnick as acting chairman and Ronald Loeb as acting CEO.<br />Barad was under pressure from investors and Mattel directors to explain big losses at the company's newly acquired Learning Company software division and other problems.<br />Farr joined Mattel in 1991 as director of the company's tax division. Before he worked for Mattel, Farr spent 11 years with the professional services firm of PricewaterhouseCoopers.