Tag: strategy

Notes on Developing a Strategy and Designing a Company

“Notes on Developing a Strategy and Designing a Company” is a rather lengthy paper from the Harvard Business School, with the following abstract:

These notes provide a sequence of steps for creating or evaluating a strategy and associated company design, drawing clear lines to quantitative and evidence-based evaluation of enterprise performance and to financial valuation. The notes are intended for practical use by managers or instructors of MBAs and executive MBAs.

There’s plenty of good questions, answers, and ideas on how to improve a company, whether it is in its first days, or has been around for a while.

Chess bits

I’ve been fascinated by chess for as long as I can remember.  This is one of those games that brings it all together – intelligence, suspense, entertainment, magic…  Unfortunately, I wasn’t ever any good at playing chess, or even understanding most strategies.  But that didn’t stop me from enjoying a game now and then.

I have recently came across two interesting bits about chess.  One is this post on the gaping void blog with the history of chess pieces.  It explains where from the names and looks came, as well as why the pieces move the way they move.  Another one is this Battle Chess web site (in Russian).  Battle Chess is a variation of the chess game, which, as the site says “is a war, not a game”.  What they do is let each chess player arrange his pieces on his part of the board any way he wants.  The second player does the same.  The trick is that they don’t see each others positioning before the game starts.  And then they start.  Sounds exciting. And innovative.  Which I guess isn’t very easy to do with a game a few centuries old.