Premium Essay

Corporate Analysis of Xo Group, Inc.

In: Business and Management

Submitted By Roonie3
Words 9446
Pages 38
Executive Summary XO Group Inc. is an internet based lifestage media company. XO Group has four flagship brands and each brand is specific to a particular market. The Knot and Wedding Channel are focused on the wedding industry. The Nest is dedicated to the home environment. The Bump is focused on family planning. XO Group provides services to couples who seek advice and information on planning lives together; from the wedding to their first baby and everything in between. XO Group’s professional staff ensures goals are being met and customers are satisfied. Throughout the company’s life, XO Group continually pursues new opportunities to stay ahead of their competitors and hold their place at the top of the lifestage media industry.

Table of Contents Page No. | Executive Summary………………………………………………………………. | 3 | Table of Contents…………………………………………………………………. | 4 | List of Tables……………………………………………………………………... | 6 | List of Figures…………………………………………………………………….. | 7 | Section 1: History of Company………………………………………………….... | 8 | The Beginning…………………………………………………………………. Getting Bigger…………………………………………………………………. The Nest………………………………………………………………………... Merging Two Companies……………………………………………………… Stepping Into The Baby Market……………………………………………….. XO Group Inc.…………………………………………………………………. | 8 9 10 11 11 13 | Section 2: Company Mission……………………………………………………... | 13 | Section 3: Stakeholders…………………………………………………………… | 15 | Section 4: Governance Structure………………………………………………….. | 17 | Management Team…………………………………………………………….. Board Of Directors……………………………………………………………. Audit Committee………………………………………………………………. Compensation Committee……………………………………………………...

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Lmvh

...LVMH: King of the Luxury Jungle SEPTEMBER 2009 Profit from temporary W&S woes to bag the stock at discount prices LVMH is the strongest player in the luxury goods industry, a giant in an industry where fixed costs make scale paramount; the only "two-legged" balanced player, leading with mega-brands in both Leather Goods and Wines & Spirits; enjoying stable group EBIT margins as a consequence Champagne consumer demand weakness, de-stocking and oversupply in 2010 are well understood; W&S concerns have depressed the stock close to 20-year trough multiples and in the same range of smaller and more volatile hard luxury players and other peers; an opportunity in our view On top of LVMH's unrivaled industry position, markets seem to under-appreciate cost-saving opportunities, brand-portfolio rationalization, higher FCF from lower W&S inventory investment, above-average mega-brands' results or support from first-mover EM inroads In a medium-term growth environment, LVMH has the chance to be a key consolidator in the luxury goods industry: a mega-merger with CFR would be a strategic master stroke, placing it ahead of any M&A counter move by competitors SEE DISCLOSURE APPENDIX OF THIS REPORT FOR IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES AND ANALYST CERTIFICATIONS LVMH: KING OF THE LUXURY JUNGLE 1 Portfolio Manager's Summary We have few doubts about the opportunity of investing in LVMH for the medium to long term. We expect "winners will continue to win" in the luxury industry...

Words: 54550 - Pages: 219

Premium Essay

General Motors Scanning

...General Motors Ricardo Villacis 2012 Ricardo Villacis Toshiba 1/1/2012 General Motors Ricardo Villacis 2012 Ricardo Villacis Toshiba 1/1/2012 "GM’s vision is to be the world leader in transportation products and related services. We will earn our customers’ enthusiasm through continuous improvement driven by the integrity, teamwork, and innovation of GM people." "G.M. is a multinational corporation engaged in socially responsible operations, worldwide. It is dedicated to provide products and services of such quality that our customers will receive superior value while our employees and business partners will share in our success and our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment." "It is awfully important to know what is and what is not your business." —Gertrude Stein I quote this phrase from Gertrude Stein because reading, talking, analyzing and explaining a big company vision and mission makes you understand what this company create not only for their costumers but what they can share with their employees and families. But why is important for a company have a vision and mission? A vibrant Vision of the company clearly and precisely affords an understanding of what your business is all about. Establishing the elementary principles of how you are going to accomplish your Vision defines the Values of the organization. Without Values in place, the company is unable to induce clear and directional decisions...

Words: 2185 - Pages: 9

Premium Essay

Business Analytics Case Study

...IBM, the IBM logo and ibm.com are trademarks of International Business Machines Corp., registered in many jurisdictions worldwide. Other product and service names might be trademarks of IBM or other companies. This case study set contains proprietary information which is protected by copyright. No part of this document may be modified without a legal license agreement from IBM Corporation. Any references in this information to non-IBM Web sites are provided for convenience only and do not in any manner serve as an endorsement of those Web sites. The materials at those Web sites are not part of the materials for this IBM product and use of those Web sites is at your own risk. 2 IBM Global Center for Smarter Analytics Case Analysis 1: Cincinnati Zoo Business Objectives • • • IBM Global Center for Smarter Analytics Company Company Background The Cincinnati Zoo & Botanical Garden is one of the most popular attractions and a Top Zoo for Children according to Parent’s Magazine. Each year, more than 1.3 million people visit its 71-acre site, which is home to more than 500 animal and 3,000 plant species. Although the Zoo is a non-profit organization and is partially subsidized by Hamilton County, more than two thirds of its $26 million annual budget is generated through its own fundraising efforts. Cincinnati Zoo takes pride in the fact that it has the lowest public subsidy of any zoo in Ohio and generates more than two thirds of its $26 million ...

Words: 9382 - Pages: 38

Free Essay

Internet-Value-Chain-Economics - at Kearney

...Internet Value Chain Economics Gaining a deeper understanding of the Internet economy W hen considering the technological innovations of the past 50 years, the Internet is probably the one that has had the greatest impact on everyday life in developed economies. Nearly six out of 10 Americans now shop online and more than four out of 10 bank online. Twenty hours of video are uploaded to YouTube every minute, while 5 percent of all time online is spent on the social networking site, Facebook. The Internet has also changed the way in which businesses operate—today, 64 percent of C-level executives conduct six or more searches per day to locate business information. The Internet has been a source of great good—as evidenced by the role played by Internet-based mapping and communications in the relief effort following the recent Haiti earthquake. The Internet also has shown a negative side—more than 97 percent of all emails are spam, while more than 70 percent of Americans fear online identity theft and 57 percent feel that their personal privacy has been greatly diminished by the Internet.1 Behind these statistics and headlines, however, there remains a low level of understanding of how the Internet economy works. Who are the different players involved in the Internet, beyond the flagship names? How is the industry structured and how concentrated is it? How do players make money and how do revenues flow across the value chain? Is the industry attractive in terms of growth...

Words: 12241 - Pages: 49

Free Essay

Towards Regulation of the Barter Industry

...An Argument for Regulation of the Reciprocal Trade (Barter) Exchange Industry Daniel Evans, Ormita Commerce Network It is well known that trust is the corner-stone of the financial services industry. Keynote speech by Dr Prasarn Trairatvorakul, Governor of the Bank of Thailand, The Asian Banker Summit 2012 “Trust as a Pillar of the Industry”, Bangkok, 26 April 2012. Introduction Trust is a critically important ingredient in the recipe for well-functioning markets and a successful and vibrant economy. Unfortunately, due to market scandals, incompetence and fraud, trust in our neighbours is something that is in shorter supply today than any other time in history. As Alan Greenspan once remarked: "[O]ur market system depends critically on trust—trust in the word of our colleagues and trust in the word of those with whom we do business."1 Despite outward appearances, public confidence in the integrity of the reciprocal trade exchange industry is alarmingly low. While numerous factors have contributed to this problem, one of the most potent is the widespread failure of reciprocal exchange networks of all sizes over the past 30 years. These failures include the spectacular collapses of large commercial exchange networks such as Bartercard (in USA, Canada, India, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Turkey, South Africa, Jordan 2 3 ), BarterTrust/Tradaq (USA, UK, Canada) 4 , BarterNet/Intagio (Canada, Mexico, USA & Europe) and Bigvine (Australia, Canada, USA)5; through to the dramatic...

Words: 8559 - Pages: 35

Premium Essay

Case

...The Importance of Customer Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 Benefits and Barriers to Implementation 10 Business Benefits Sought from Customer Analytics . . . . . . . . . . 10 Barriers to Adoption of Customer Analytics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 role of Analytics in Increasing Marketing roI . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13 Analytics Tools, Data Sources, and Techniques 17 BI, olAP, and data discovery for Customer Analytics . . . . . . . . . 18 In-Memory Computing for More rapid discovery Analysis . . . . . . . 20 Predictive Analytics, data Mining, and Advanced Statistics Implementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 filling the role of the data Scientist for Customer Analytics . . . . . . 23 Applying Technologies for Social Media Data Analysis 24 Applying Analytics to find and Influence the Influencers . . . . . . . . 26 Selecting and Accessing Internal and External Social Media data . . . 27 finding the right role for Hadoop and Mapreduce . . . . . . . . . . 28 Data Management and Integration...

Words: 22604 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

Sage 50

...Chapter 1 Strategic Leadership: Managing the Strategy-Making Process for Competitive Advantage Opening Case Wal-Mart Wal-Mart is one of the most extraordinary success stories in business history. Started in 1962 by Sam Walton, Wal-Mart has grown to become the world’s largest corporation. In the financial year ending January 31, 2004, the discount retailer whose mantra is “every day low prices” had sales of nearly $256 billion, five thousand stores in ten countries (almost three thousand are in the United States), and 1.3 million employees. Some 8 percent of all retail sales in the United States are made at a Wal-Mart store. Wal-Mart is not only large but also very profitable. In 2003, the company earned a return on invested capital of 14.7 percent, significantly better than rivals Costco and Target, which earned 9.4 percent and 10 percent, respectively (another major rival, Kmart, emerged from bankruptcy protection in 2004). As shown in the accompanying figure, Wal-Mart has been consistently more profitable than its rivals for years. Wal-Mart’s superior profitability reflects a competitive advantage that is based on the successful implementation of a number of strategies. In 1962 Wal-Mart was one of the first companies to apply the self-service supermarket business model developed by grocery chains to general merchandise (two of its rivals, Kmart and Target, were established in the same year). Unlike its rivals, who focused on urban and suburban locations, Sam Walton’s Wal-Mart...

Words: 22650 - Pages: 91

Premium Essay

Jdkd

...A Resolution of the Distress Risk and Leverage Puzzles in the Cross Section of Stock Returns Thomas J. George e-mail:tom-george@uh.edu C. T. Bauer College of Business University of Houston Houston, TX 77240 and Chuan-Yang Hwang e-mail:cyhwang@ntu.edu.sg Division of Banking and Finance Nanyang Business School Nanyang Technological University Singapore 639798 April 2009 Acknowledgments: We are grateful to David Bates, Alex Boulatov, Gerry Garvey, Rick Green, Bing Han, Praveen Kumar, Scott Richardson, Tom Rourke, Mike Stutzer, Sheridan Titman, Stuart Turnbull, Toni Whited, Huai Zhang, an anonymous referee and participants at the Western Finance Association and China International Conferences for helpful comments and discussions. George acknowledges research support from the C.T. Bauer Professorship. A Resolution of the Distress Risk and Leverage Puzzles in the Cross Section of Stock Returns Abstract We revisit findings that returns are negatively related to financial distress intensity and leverage. These are puzzles under frictionless capital markets assumptions, but consistent with optimizing firms that differ in their exposure to financial distress costs. Firms with high costs choose low leverage to avoid distress, but retain exposure to the systematic risk of bearing such costs in low states. Empirical results are consistent with this explanation. The return premiums to low leverage and low distress are significant in raw returns, and even stronger in risk-adjusted returns. When...

Words: 22178 - Pages: 89

Premium Essay

Ethics

...ETHICS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Third Edition This page intentionally left blank ETHICS IN INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Third Edition George W. Reynolds Australia • Brazil • Japan • Korea • Mexico • Singapore • Spain • United Kingdom • United States Ethics in Information Technology, Third Edition by George W. Reynolds VP/Editorial Director: Jack Calhoun Publisher: Joe Sabatino Senior Acquisitions Editor: Charles McCormick Jr. Senior Product Manager: Kate Hennessy Mason Development Editor: Mary Pat Shaffer Editorial Assistant: Nora Heink Marketing Manager: Bryant Chrzan Marketing Coordinator: Suellen Ruttkay Content Product Manager: Jennifer Feltri Senior Art Director: Stacy Jenkins Shirley Cover Designer: Itzhack Shelomi Cover Image: iStock Images Technology Project Manager: Chris Valentine Manufacturing Coordinator: Julio Esperas Copyeditor: Green Pen Quality Assurance Proofreader: Suzanne Huizenga Indexer: Alexandra Nickerson Composition: Pre-Press PMG © 2010 Course Technology, Cengage Learning ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may be reproduced, transmitted, stored or used in any form or by any means graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including but not limited to photocopying, recording, scanning, digitizing, taping, Web distribution, information networks, or information storage and retrieval systems, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without the prior written permission...

Words: 204343 - Pages: 818

Premium Essay

Student

... Lut12575_fm_i-xxvi.indd Page i 2/10/11 2:28 PM user-f494 /203/MHBR222/Lut12575_disk1of1/0078112575/Lut12575_pagefiles International Management Culture, Strategy, and Behavior Eighth Edition Fred Luthans University of Nebraska–Lincoln Jonathan P. Doh Villanova University Lut12575_fm_i-xxvi.indd Page ii 2/11/11 2:35 PM user-f494 /203/MHBR222/Lut12575_disk1of1/0078112575/Lut12575_pagefiles INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT: CULTURE, STRATEGY, AND BEHAVIOR, EIGHTH EDITION Published by McGraw-Hill, a business unit of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., 1221 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020. Copyright © 2012 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved. Previous editions © 2009, 2006, and 2003. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc., including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning. Some ancillaries, including electronic and print components, may not be available to customers outside the United States. This book is printed on recycled, acid-free paper containing 10% postconsumer waste. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 QDB/QDB 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ISBN 978-0-07-811257-7 MHID 0-07-811257-5 Vice President & Editor-in-Chief: Brent Gordon Vice President, EDP/Central Publishing Services: Kimberly Meriwether-David Editorial...

Words: 69321 - Pages: 278

Free Essay

Luenberger

...I NVESTMENT SCI ENCE I NVESTMENT SCI ENCE DA YID G. LUENBERGER STANFORD UNIVERSITY New York Oxford OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS 1998 OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS Oxford New York Auckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires Cnlcutta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Athens Kuala Lumpur Mexico City Madras Nairobi Mndrid Paris Melbourne Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto F \--1& ljS1S,'L (Jml aHociated compallies ill Berlin Jbndon ' LE 4 /3 en where that last expression is valid in the limit as In goes to infinity, cOllesponding to continuous compounding Hence continuous compounding leads to the familiar expo~ nential growth CUlve Such a curve is shown in FigUle 2 2 for a 10% nominal interest late Debt We have examined how a single investment (say a bank deposit) glows over time due to intelest compounding It should be clem that exactly the same thing happens 10 debt It I bonoll' money from the biwk at an intelest rate 1 and make no payments to the bank, then my debt increases accOJding to the same formulas Specifically, if my debt is compounded monthly, then after k months my debt will have grown by a factor of [I + (I /12) l' 21 14 12 10 PRINCIPAL AND INTEREST 17 FIGURE 2.2 Expollential growth curve; cOllfinuous compoUlld growth, Under conl;nuotls compounding at 1D'X" the value of $1 doubles in abotll 7 yems In 20 yems it grows by a factor of ilbotll B !5 ~ 4 0...

Words: 24917 - Pages: 100

Premium Essay

Web2

...Asset-based valuation: Break Up Values Firms Trading as Market Values less than Net Assets No Arbitrage: the Law of One Price How Share Prices are Arbitraged Negative Stub Values Expectational Arbitrage and the Risk of Arbitraging The Cost of Arbitrage: Why There Might Appear to be an Arbitrage Opportunity When There is None. Dealing with Risk in Active Investing Readers’ Corner Appendix to Web Page: Formal Analysis of Abnormal Returns, No-arbitrage, and Market Efficiency What this Chapter is Doing Chapter 3 does three things: First, it looks at three valuation and investment approaches that use financial statement information, but in limited, suspect or impractical ways, and points out the pitfalls in these methods: o The Method of Comparables o Screening Analysis o Asset-Based Valuation Second, it outlines the architecture of fundamental valuation approaches that employ all available information, and illustrates that architecture with the dividend discount model. In this chapter, as in each chapter in the book, approach the material with the question: how do I get an edge? What are...

Words: 10037 - Pages: 41

Premium Essay

Critical Analysis of Spin-Offs

...Value Creation of Spin-offs and Carve-outs Dissertation zur Erlangung der Würde eines Doktors der Staatswissenschaften vorgelegt der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Basel von Roger Rüdisüli von Amden SG Difo-Druck GmbH Bamberg 2005 Genehmigt von der Wirtschaftswissenschaftlichen Fakultät der Universität Basel auf Antrag von Prof. Dr. Heinz Zimmermann und Ass.-Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Drobetz. Basel, den 10. Mai 2005 Der Dekan Prof. Dr. Heinz Zimmermann Acknowledgements V Acknowledgements My dissertation would not have been possible without the support of various people to whom I would like to express my sincere gratitude. Firstly, I would like to thank my academic supervisors Heinz Zimmermann and Wolfgang Drobetz of the University of Basel (Switzerland) for their academic guidance, encouraging support and the very pleasant cooperation. Special thanks goes to Jürg Wicki for his advice in selecting the subject, structuring the dissertation, and choosing its fundamental building blocks. I am also heavily indebted to Neelesh Singhal and his team at McKC in Madras (India) who helped me to find the vast amount of data used in my research. Without their assistance it would have been impossible to obtain the data. I am also grateful to Sabine Keller-Busse and the partners of McKinsey & Company in the Zurich office for making my educational leave possible and for the financial assistance provided. My acknowledgement also goes to Thomas Bollinger...

Words: 123097 - Pages: 493

Free Essay

Women Affair.Pdf

...WOMEN DEVELOPMENT AND NATIONAL POLICY ON WOMEN IN NIGERIA Olubunmi Aderemi Sokefun Abstract This paper discusses the document on women in Nigeria (National Policy on Women). Several past administrations in this country have treated women issues and affairs with calculated levity: Carefully side - tracking or blatantly refusing to accord it the necessary attention. It is now a thing to gladden the hearts of all women of Nigeria that, "after four attempts by four former heads of Nigeria's Government," Chief Obasanjo's administration finally granted government recognition to women's issues in this country. The official document .on Human Rights' issues as it relates to Nigerian women; this document is known as the NATIONAL POLICY ON WOMEN. This paper therefore focuses on the document which promises to bring delight to the heart of every woman in this country. Introduction When late Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ransome Kuti joined the vanguard team as the only nationalist and activist during the early struggle for Nigerian independence, hardly did .anybody realize then that she had a dream, a clear vision of a future Nigerian woman, that vision was crystal clear in her heart, and like a pivot, it stood firmly on three stand posts-known today as women's rights, women emancipation and women empowerment.. . Mrs. Olufunmilayo Ransome-Kuti later joined by some educated women of like minds, fought daringly and relentlessly for these three .pivotal goals of women emergency and relevance in the socio-political...

Words: 71889 - Pages: 288

Premium Essay

Introduction to Global Marketing

...PART 2 The Global Marketing Environment CHAPTER 2 The Global Economic Environment Case 2-1 The Global Economic Crisis I n his 1997 book One World, Ready or Not, William Greider described the United States as “the buyer of last resort.” Greider explained that, for many years, the United States was the only nation that was willing to absorb production surpluses exported by companies in Europe, Asia, and Latin America. Greider asked: “Who will buy the surpluses when the United States cannot?” The conventional wisdom has long held that strong spending by consumers in other nations would keep the world economy humming. However, by 2008, Greider’s question was taking on a new urgency and the conventional wisdom was being tested. An economic crisis that had its roots in lax subprime mortgage lending practices began to spread around the globe. In the United States, where the crisis began, economic misery was widespread: The housing market collapsed, real estate values plummeted, credit tightened, and job growth slowed (see Exhibit 2-1). As the price of oil passed the $100 per barrel benchmark, the average price of a gallon of gasoline rose to $4. American consumers were, indeed, less willing and less able to buy. However, the crisis was not confined to the United States alone. Consumer-goods exporters in Asia, which Exhibit 2-1: The bursting of the global real estate bubble was only one aspect of the worst recession in decades. The ripple effects from the economic...

Words: 24814 - Pages: 100