benjaminl cw2 project308submission

Benjamin L’Hermitte 308 LON Assignment – SID: 6850399 - Main body word count: 8608 Tutor’s name: Céline Raiss

308 Assignment CW2 Benjamin L’Hermitte 2

Abstract

Strategy is very old and today essential for companies. My Business research

is about Chess and the Business World. The main objective and interest is to

establish a parallel between Chess and Business and to learn about that. So

my research questions were: How strategic thinking derived from chess game

strategy could be applicable to the real world of business? How can we apply

it to companies?

To answer to those questions, we will study the way of thinking of a chess

player, a manager and we will establish links between them. Parallels between

chess and business are very numerous so I will study in my research each

parallel (with business strategy, marketing, finance...) before to conclude with

how to become a successful manager with Chess.

Firstly, in this report, we are going to present the subject, my research question

and the objectives. Then, we will also analyse the literature review. We will

explain my research methodology with the Research Onion and explain our

choice. Finally, we will establish the schedule of my Research Project, its

organization and we will conclude.


Table of contents

Abstract................................................................................................................ 2

List of Tables ......................................................................................................... 4

I. Introduction ................................................................................................... 5

1) Why Chess topic? ........................................................................................... 5

2) Research Question & Objectives ..................................................................... 6

II. Literature Review ........................................................................................... 7

1) Chess and Strategic Marketing ....................................................................... 7

2) Chess and Strategic Management .................................................................. 8

3) Way of thinking and decision process ............................................................. 9

4) Chess VS Risk & Finance Investment ............................................................. 10

5) Chess player and manager’s behavior & qualities ......................................... 11

6) Conclusion ................................................................................................... 12

III. Research Methodology ............................................................................. 13

1) Research design ........................................................................................... 14

2) Data collection ............................................................................................. 15

3) Sampling and Participants ........................................................................... 16

4) Research Ethics ............................................................................................ 16

Conclusion of 321 report ..................................................................................... 17

IV. Data Collection Results & Analysis ............................................................ 18

1) Interviews Comparison................................................................................. 18

2) Sun Tzu: the teaching for chess & business ................................................... 27

V. Conclusion ................................................................................................... 30

1) Conclusion ................................................................................................... 30

2) Recommendation ......................................................................................... 33

3) Future project’s perspective ......................................................................... 34

References .......................................................................................................... 35

Appendices ......................................................................................................... 41


List of Tables

Table Page

1 Chess & Marketing Parallel – Source: Luca Desiata 2015 .................... 7

2 Chess Players Styles – Source: Luca Desiata 2015 ........................... 12

3 Data collection Methods ...................................................................... 15

4 Interviews Comparison ....................................................................... 18

5 Last step of decision process .............................................................. 22

6 Simplified Ansoff matrix ...................................................................... 29

7 Qualities, information comparison ....................................................... 30

8 Decision Process, information comparison ......................................... 31

9 Risks, information comparison ............................................................ 31

10 Strategic Management, information comparison ................................. 32

11 Gantt chart 1st semester by 25 January .............................................. 42

12 Gantt chart 2nd semester from 8 February .......................................... 44

13 Resources ........................................................................................... 45


I. Introduction

1) Why Chess topic?

Strategy means “art of troop leader”, it comes from Greek “Stratos” = army and

“Ageîn” = Lead. So Strategy started with wars, we know the Sun Tzu strategies

and its art of war. Chess is very old too, and is the symbol of strategy. It’s an

Arabic game which the first texts about chess dated of 8th century. Its ancestor

is the Chaturanga

(James Masters

1997). More than a

simple game, Chess is

the representation of

the man’s mind, its

way of thinking. Chess

teaches us that the

random doesn’t give

the victory and allow,

with a human size

game, to discover the

beginnings of the

human’s genius. Chess

teaches us every day and

every time because the only limit of Chess is the limits of our minds. Chess

confronts us to ourselves and push us to think better, to improve ourselves and

take the better.

Today, the Strategy is essential to the companies. And unfortunately

sometimes, managers are only amateurs compared to the human potential and

make strategy’s mistakes (example: fail of Jean-Marie Messier, Manager.

source: Tancrède Blondé 2012). Explore the Chess Strategy could be a very

good way to understand the implications of Business Strategy. Strategy is

Strategy and it exist a very narrow link between the business world and the

chess world. This research topic about Chess is relevant to business because

Chess is a very good way to apply strategy and identify player’s style which

could compare to management style. See Business across Chess or Chess

across Business, that’s the subject’s core.

I chose this subject, particularly because I am in the Chess World with an

international level so I am very implicated and interested about this subject.

Besides, I identified many links between Chess and Business in many aspects

such as the game itself (links with marketing strategy, management strategy,

and finance: investor behaviour for instance) and the behaviour around the

game (player’s behaviour and manager behaviour with the way of thinking of

those stakeholders). So I judged the subject enough rich to deepen the topic.

Fig.1 Sun Tzu Quotation - Source : <https://quotesgram.com/best-sun-tzu-quotes/#MDSPDdkClM>


2) Research Question & Objectives

The main objective of this study is to establish all the possible links between

Chess and the Business World and to learn about that. So my research

question is:

HOW STRATEGIC THINKING DERIVED FROM CHESS GAME STRATEGY COULD BE

APPLICABLE TO THE REAL WORLD OF BUSINESS?

Firstly, I will explain all the links between the game itself, the strategy and

Business. Then I will explain the different behaviours. Our objectives are

grouped in category of existing links between Chess and Business. These

objectives are:

Understand the strategy implications in Chess and the Strategic

Marketing

Understand the strategy implications in Chess and the Strategic

Management

Understand the way of thinking and the decision process of a

Chess player and a manager

Understand the financial investor’s behaviour and the chess

player’s behaviour

Understand the behaviour and the qualities of Chess player

and managers


II. Literature Review

1) Chess and Strategic Marketing

There are many links between Chess and Marketing. Firstly, Pragmatic

Marketing Corporation established a link between Chess analysis and Market

Analysis according to the following process: assessing the key elements, the

general assessment and the planning (Mike Urbonas 2015). Then, a second

existing link is the « initiative » (Chess term). As the same way a product has

to be innovative and get a step ahead against its competitors, a Chess player

who has the « initiative », a move ahead against his opponent, will have a

significant advantage.

A parallel table between Chess and Marketing could be established thus (Luca

Desiata 2015):

To finish, some marketing tools could be also apply to Chess such as the BCG

Matrix (appendix 4).

Strategic Element Chess Business

Conflict System Chess Game Competition

Players White or Black Companies

Conflict Place Board Products/Services Market

Conflict Place’s Unit Columns and Diagonals Market Sector

Force Units Pieces Products or Services

Conflict Boundaries Edge of the Chessboard Marginal market segments

Sectors Centre, Corners, Edges Primary, Secondary, Tertiary

Control Area Territory Market Share

Force Units Elimination Pieces capture Competitor merger or

elimination

Table 1 Chess & Marketing Parallel – Source: Luca Desiata 2015


2) Chess and Strategic Management

Strategy is very important to the company. Indeed, according to Garry

Kasparov (ex: n°1 chess player in the world), the chances to win randomly (so

without strategy) are non-existing (Luca Desiata 2015). After just three moves

by a chess player, more than 9 million positions are possible. The decisions of

the companies concerning their new strategies, their pricing, their products and

the global life of the company are as many as the chess possible moves (Diane

Coutu 2005).

They exist 3 levels categories about strategy: the corporate strategy, the

business strategy and functional strategy (Rodach and Besser 2007 & Bertrand

Giboin 2012) just like chess. We could compare the corporate strategy to the

global chess strategy, the global plan to the question: « what end of game do

we want to have? ». The business and functional strategy matches both to the

short term strategy it’s call in fact « tactics ». Tactics could be compare to the

operational management. For its part, concerning the Chess global strategy,

different strategic issues are existing in Chess according to the strengths and

weaknesses of the opponents and the chess player (Marc Quenehen 2013).

Those issues could be compare to the strategic decision-making after have

established a SWOT analysis of the company and the competitors in order to

take advantages of their weaknesses.

Josh Manion (Ensighten Founder) observes some mistakes about business

creators who create an activity without a long term plan. They make a success

just the first year but nothing more. According to him, it’s essential to keep an

overview of the market and be able to anticipate. Just like Chess, very often,

the victory belongs to the chess player who is able to foresee the moves and

see always farther than his opponent (Tancrède Blondé 2015).

A comparison with the Strategy war (so Chess Strategy) could be established

with Business. We will quote only one example concerning the competitors:

« If you know your enemy and know yourself, your need not fear the result of

a hundred battles »

Sun Tzu & Magnusson Art of War (2012)

A chess player has to know himself, its opponent like a company with its

competitors and also know to adapt according to its environment and the

different situation. For instance, Bobby Fischer during its match against Boris


Spassky play one first different move that usual to everyone’s surprise, in order

to counter the Russian preparation against the Fischer’s move ( Pawn Sacrifice

Movie 2015). As the same way a company has to adapt according to the

different situation and its competitors.

3) Way of thinking and decision process

They exist two kinds of decision-making: intuition and analysis. In Business

such as Chess, every moves, every decisions are important (Simon Gibson

2015 Cambridge News). A chess players have to balance between intuition

and analysis. Intuition is the defining quality of a great chess player (Diane

Coutu 2005). The intuition is the capabilities to recognize unconsciously a

chess them position and to know what to do in this position (Susza Polgar’s

(Chess Grand Master) interview from TV French report TF1). It’s the result of

a previous analysis of the same kind of position. It allows for a chess player to

take a quick decision and to be oriented in the right direction. It could be

interesting to study if it could be possible to develop the same kind of intuition

from a manager.

About the analysis of decision making, some tools such as the SWOT analysis

(Rodach and Besser 2007 & Bertrand Giboin 2012) is representative of a same

way of thinking in Chess and Business.

Besides, the same decision process exists between chess players and

managers (according to Luca Desiata 2015):

Fig. 2 Desicion Process – Source: Luca Desiata 2015


Finally, a human phenomenon exists in Chess and Business, it’s called the

abstraction phenomenon. It’s the capability of our mind to select only the

relevant information to reach or realize an objective, upstaging the secondary

information to the background (Luca Desiata 2015).

4) Chess VS Risk & Finance Investment

There are several links between Finance and Chess. Firstly, concerning the

money management. To play a chess game, the chess players are a Chess

clock. As the same way a company has to manage their budget, a chess player

has to manage his time. According to Josh Manion: « Doesn’t matter, if you

have a good product or not! If you don’t have any money, it’s over! » (Tancrède

Blondé 2015). Cambridge News established also a link between finance and

chess. It compare the king to the money. The money in the company like the

king in Chess is very important. If the cash has gone as the king, the game is

over (Simon Gibson 2015).

Then we have links between risks and efficiency in Chess and Business. The

chess player and investor’s behaviours are irrational. When we are in a winning

position we are careful and don’t take risks in order to keep our advantage

whereas we take more risks in a losing situation even if we could lose more.

The risks/efficiency matrix could be represented thus (Luca Desiata 2015), we

will give also some example inside the Desiata’s Matrix according to my own

opinion:

EFFI

CIE

NC

Y

RISKS

Risks-Efficiency Matrix

Easy Money with a Blue Ocean strategy

or nich market

Weak risk & weak effienciency ex :

bunds

High risk – High

efficiency ex:

shares, hedge funds

Fig.3 Risks – Efficiency Matrix – Source : L. Desiata 2015


A Chess Master should be able to manage the risks decisions rationally (David

Ning 2014). It’s interesting to finish with a Schumpeter quotation:

« Profits rewards the risks-taking »

Joseph Schumpeter

5) Chess player and manager’s behavior & qualities

Many qualities are developed by the chess game practice (according to the

Swiss directory of education 1977):

Attention and Focusing

Judgement and Plan

Imagination and the forecasting

The memory

Self-control, Competition Spirit and endurance

Quickly decision-making capabilities

Analytical Mind

Creativity

The smart

Structured Organization

So much of these qualities are essential to be a great manager. Besides, the

manager, like the chess player has to manage their time and their stress

(Tancrède Blondé 2015). Focusing is also very important, but be focused

during a long time is very exhausted, that’s why it’s important for a chess player

and a manager to have a healthy way of life and practice sport (Sulekha Nair

2015).

There are 5 leadership styles (according to B. Giboin 2012), the analytical style,

the visionary style, the operational style, the humanist style, and the

communicative style. The three first styles could be apply in Chess. They exist

4 chess players’ style concerning the game (according to Luca Desiata 2015),

all these styles could be apply to managers:


Facts Global Concepts

Intuition Militant Reflexive

Logic Pragmatic Theorists

L. Desiata mentioned also 6 chess players’ style in a Chess tournament

context: killers, fighters, sportive, players, explorers/seekers and artists.

6) Conclusion

To conclude, my literature review established many links between Chess and

Business. However, I could identify gaps in the comparison explored by the

different authors. Indeed, we could compare the course of a Chess game with

the fight between companies. For instance, as the same way a chess player

has to know its position, a company has to know its market.

We could also compare an activity sector with the chess opening. For instance,

as the same way a company has to know its activity sector (and even

sometimes chose it wisely according to its SWOT analysis, in the case of an

expansion of its range of product or a new target market for instance), a chess

player has to choose its opening wisely according to its knowledge, its

strengths and its weaknesses.

Finally, there are again many path to explore and deepen. In the next report,

we will deepen those elements in our part. Furthermore, we will introduce the

war aspect which will help us to appreciate the chess strategic application to

business. To finish, our future report will include challenging conclusion and

recommendation in order to improve the manager’s qualities in companies with

Chess.

Table 2 Chess Players Styles – Source : Luca Desiata 2015


III. Research Methodology

The following research onion will be the framework to summarize my

methodology:

Fig. 4 Research Onion – Source: Saunders and Lewis 2012

Philosophy

Approach

Strategies

Choice

Time horizon

Techniques and

procedures


1) Research design

The research design is “the strategic plan for a research project setting out the

broad outline and key features of the work to be undertaken, including the

methods of data collection analysis to be employed, and showing how the

research strategy addresses the specific aims and objectives of the study”

(Gordon Marshall, A dictionary of Sociology 1998).

The study will adopt a pragmatism philosophy. The pragmatism is a research

philosophy which argues that the most important determinant of the research

philosophy adopted are the research question and objectives (Lewis &

Saunders 2012). This philosophy will match perfectly my research topic.

Then, my approach will be deductive. Indeed, we will start from an existing

theory, and then we will do hypothesis and observation in order to confirm the

theory.

Concerning the strategies in our research onion, we will use the grounded

theory, the case study and survey. I use grounded theory because I have my

own experience in Chess so I could bring information. Besides, some people

(with interview) and even within some books, people who talk about their own

experience about Chess and Business bring more information. I use also some

case study, indeed I have some business case companies which could be

compared to Chess (for instance a life insurance product launch by the

“Banque Postale” in 2005: How Jean-Marc Pailhol manage the risk and the


situation and the link with Chess). Finally, I will use survey but only interview

which is the most appropriate about my topic.

I choose the multi-method design. This method is the most appropriate

because I will use only qualitative data, but with several kinds of qualitative

data.

As a time horizon, I choose the cross-sectional horizon. Indeed, I won’t

compare my study across the time. My research will undertake at one period

of time like a snapshot of a specific point in time.

Finally, I plan to use primary data and secondary data. Now, let’s we see the

kinds of data collected and the data collection methods.

2) Data collection

I will use primary data with interviews, focus groups data collection and

secondary data with books and articles. I plan also to analyse some movies

and short video about the Chess player’s behaviour. All the information

collected will be essentially qualitative.

The following table will summarize my data collection:

Kind of data Primary data Secondary data

Methods

Interview face to face

or phone interview

Groups Working Books Articles Movies

Videos

Report

Definition

a purposeful discussion

between two or more people (Kahn and

Cannell (1957)

Methods use to gather information from a

people feeling’s and opinion.

Data collected by someone other than the researcher.

Add Value

Information reliable,

specific & specialized because we

choose a specialized

people.

Synergy effect and efficiency. Bring

different point of view and give information

with new eyes.

Bring more in-depth

information

Bring actual and

concisely information

Bring some “alive

information” to analyze

the behaviour part in our

subject

Another kind of

information but the same

advantages than

articles

Table 3 Data Collection Methods


3) Sampling and Participants

The study takes place in Lyon, France. The more relevant concerning my topic

is the interview. I need information from people’s experiences, qualitative and

specific information so I will use a semi-structured interview with opening

question. That’s why a quantitative questionnaire couldn’t be appropriate.

Thus, I chose a non-standardized interview with the one to one method.

According to the time and the availability of interviewees’ people, I could use

all the way of asking, such as face to face, phone or e-mailing.

Concerning the participant, I plan to interview 1 chess player and 1 people

coming from the business environment like strategic consultant, a manager or

a management coach. The goals of these interviews are to get feelings and

experiences from those stakeholders and to do a comparison between their

respective environments.

4) Research Ethics

My interviews will respect an ethical procedure. Firstly, I wrote a cover letter

which introduce myself and explain to the interviewees the purpose of my

research, of the question and how they can help me in my study.

Secondly, the interviewees will have the choice of the way of interview

administration (phone, e-mail or face to face) and, if necessary, the choice of

the place where the interview will be done.

Concerning the confidentiality, the anonymity will be guaranteed: neither name

will be quoted without the permission of the interviewees. Nevertheless,

because it’s essential for the credibility and the understanding of the pursuit of

research, the permission to divulge the job of the interviewees will be asked.

Finally, at the end of the cover letter, the interviewees will tick all the permission

granted or not and sign it. A writing copy of the interview and the cover letter

will be provided to the interviewees. If the interview is recorded, a copy of the

recording could be provided according to the wishes of the interviewees.


Conclusion of 321 report

To conclude, the research study will highlight all the aspects of Chess and

Business. I have many rich resources to undertake my final report: articles,

books, movies, videos and reports. Besides, I have not ever interview my

respondents, but I have ever planned the interviews with the different

stakeholders in the Chess World and the Business World. Furthermore, I have

lots of relevant websites and online articles concerning the topic.

Finally, Chess and Business are very more broadly, so in the next report we

will deepen each part, we will introduce more deeply the war’s aspects and Sun

Tzu concerning the strategic management; and to conclude, we will see if yes

or no a manager could become a great manager with Chess and reversing.

Nota Bene: The timescale and the resources management table are available

in appendix 2 and 3.


IV. Data Collection Results & Analysis

1) Interviews Comparison

Let’s recap the main information to retain about my interviews:

Characteristics Mr Bernard Touchebeuf

(about Manager) GM Romain Edouard (about Chess Player)

Main qualities/abilities

- Be listening - Psychology

- In depth Observation - Diagnose

- Analyse

- Anticipation - Anticipation

- Decision-making - Make the best decision

- Temper: know to face to the different (difficult) situation

- Patience - Self-Control

Decision Process

- identify and define the main issue - Collect any information about this issue

- Analysing position

- Look for solutions - Looking for the different options

- Choose the (good) one and evaluation of the implementation

- Calculation

- Decide and Implement - Control the result

- Verification

Definition of risk

- Unexpected and constant change of situation, enemy of the forecasting and preparation. Require all the time adaption.

- Play a move in order to win the game with the possibility unexpected and uncertain to get a worse position (and lose). (keyword= uncertainty)

Taking risk is it a good thing?

- makes business life especially interesting and challenging

- Yes, it makes chess exciting

- the more risky the situations are, the better you will be able to succeed

- Sometimes it’s the only way to achieve goals.

- businessman must appreciate taking risk

How keep an advantage?

- Work to be the best - Always improve himself, the company, the quality, services... - Communicate on your strengths, specificity, make people believe that you are the only one

- Be aware and have a clear vision of what’s happening without be afraid by fake threats for instance.

Success keys

- Be innovative and adapted to the customers ‘needs - Be able to change the decision if it doesn’t reach the expected goal - Focus on efficiency and use the less resources as possible to reach the goals.

- Always try to play the best move and not settle for a minimal and risk-free advantage ( do not be conservative)

Table 4 Interviews Comparison


I interviewed two people, one come from the business world, a management

consultant: Mr Bernard Touchebeuf. During more than 25 years, he worked

and followed the CEOs and managers of more than 50 big French companies

such as banks (LCL, Crédit Agricole, Caisse d’Epargne…), insurance

companies ( Allianz, AXA, Groupama…), world association (Make Mothers

Matter) but also large retailers and other companies (Carrefour, Groupe

Casino, Philipps, Alcatel, Desys…).

The second person comes from the chess world, he is the 6th better chess

player in France and belong to the chess French team: the Grand Master

Romain Edouard.

Let’s analyse, exploit and complete the information in our table. Firstly, what

about the main qualities and abilities of a manager and a chess player?

Qualities

The first comparison we can do it’s about psychologic ability. For chess, the

psychology is very important. The first aspect of psychology that a chess player

get about his future opponent, it is his ELO rating. It gives an information about

the level of game of the opponent; so it’s also concerning the image of the

chess player. Is it stronger or weaker than me? If I am stronger, I may have a

psychological advantage. However, sometimes a young player with a low rating

progress very fast and could be better than we think thanks to the ELO indicator

(even probably better than us).

Then, in some way, a chess player have to be listening with the different signal

sending by his opponent. It’s not always true but sometimes, the personality of

the opponent could be representative of his style of game. Talk with the future

opponent can be a good to take information and test insidiously his

knowledges.

About the manager psychological ability. Mr Touchebeuf talk about be listening

with the employees. It’s no relevant for chess because a chess player hasn’t

got employees, the comparison in only about opponent/competitor.

However, like a chess player, a manager has also be seeking to know

constantly its competitors.

Finally, the main strong comparison about psychology in chess and business,

it is about the mutual image between a company and its competitors. As the

same way than chess, an image of a strong company again a smaller company

give a psychological advantage which could discourage the less brave, with a

battle lost in advance. Nevertheless, they have to be very careful. Indeed, as

in chess, it could exist, “the young chess player with a low rating” for the

company. Small for now, but some start-up could grow significantly, very fast

and so become a serious and dangerous competitor. We could take a lesson

from this, for both chess and business: Never underestimate his opponent! We

have an indicator/image (or not! Some start-up are even not know by

companies), but it is not always representative of the reality.

http://www.mmmeurope.org/

http://www.mmmeurope.org/


The second comparison that we can do, it is about the analytical skill. A chess

player has to know analyse his position, assess his weaknesses, his strengths.

He has to be able to get a clear vision of things with a deep, well-structured

and relevant analyse in order to make the best decision.

About business, Mr Touchebeuf talk about diagnostic and observation (in

depth) abilities. It’s exactly the same skill than analytical skill with different

words. As the same way than chess, a manager has to be able to observe,

diagnose and analyse with the SWOT analysis. A good analyse will help to

make the best decision.

The third comparison is about the anticipation skill. A chess player has to

forecast and anticipate the opponent moves (see the moves in advance) as far

as possible in order to know the consequences of our probable decision. He

has to know what might happen if he plays a specific move, all the

consequences and all the issues. It is a very important skill in chess, without

this skill, it is not possible to be a great chess player.

For the manager, the same quality is necessary. Indeed, the uncertainty is a

big enemy for a company (like a chess player!) and it is necessary to reduce

as far as possible the uncertainty (and so the risks). Therefore, a manager has

to be able to forecast and plan what might happen according to the strategic

decision he has to make.

The fourth comparison is about the decision-making skill. Decision-making is:

“Decision making is the process of making a choice between a number

of options and committing to a future course of actions.” (Source: the happy manager 2016)

The GM Romain Edouard even add make the “best” decision. In chess, this

aspect is very important. The decision making ability is the ability to play the

“best” move at the right time. We need to know that the chess game is time-

limited. Both chess players have an average of 3 minutes to play one move.

Make decision at the right time is important because more a chess player take

time to make a decision, more the doubt comes and the chess player will

certainly make a mistake. The best way to make good decision, it is to follow

his intuition and have a good one. According to the ex-world champion and

Grand Master Vladimir Kramnik, intuition is:

“Equal to the sum of your knowledges about chess”

Vladimir Kramnik

To recap, make-decision is linked to the intuition which is linked to the

knowledges. Therefore, we can conclude that a good chess player with a good

decision-making skill, will be a person who has a very good level of

knowledges. A good example about intuition and chess player is the lightning

or bullet games. It is a chess game with just one minute per players. The chess

players have not time to think very deeply (or even not at all, maybe they just

can do some verification but nothing more), they play with their intuition


(consciously or not). The better players in this kind of game are the best intuition

(see the French video report 2012 of Direct 8: “les super-pouvoirs du cerveau”).

For managers, it is also an important skill. A manager always has to make

difficult decisions. The future of the company depends of the manager’s

decisions, that’s why it is so important. If it is true that a good decision is

narrowly linked to the intuition (of course in addition to the analysis), this is even

truer for managers. If we refer to the Kramnik definition about intuition, we could

also apply it for managers. As a same way a good intuition of chess player is

linked to his level of knowledges about chess, a good intuition of a manager

will be also linked to his level of knowledges. It could learn about the market,

the company, the competitors and especially his own level of knowledges and

skills about management and strategy. More a manager will learn and train

himself, better will be his intuition, so better will be his decision-making skill. It

not only require a professional investment, but especially personal investment

(for instance reading, thinking, meditate the Sun Tzu strategy for instance).

The last comparison about qualities is the temper (or self-control and patience

with the Romain Edouard’s terms).

For a chess player, it is important to keep his temper whatever what has

happened. For instance, if we make a mistake with a bad move which make us

in disadvantage, if we cramp our style, it is over! That is why, self-control (=

temper) it is so important, even with a disadvantage, if we do a mistake the

game is not over; the situation could be reverse! In a difficult position, a chess

player has to keep control and find a way to improve his position, to go ahead!

It is very similar for the manager, it is easy to imagine what could be happened

to a company if its manager cramp his style face to a situation. To conclude?

Like the chess player, the manager has to go ahead and find solution, keep

control.

Decision Process

The first step of the decision process is analysing (Romain Edouard) and also

identify issues and collect information (Mr Touchebeuf). Actually, it is exactly

the same thing with different words.

So the first step of the decision process in chess is to analyse the position. That

is mean, define the opponent’s weaknesses and strengths, our own

weaknesses and strengths, the threats, the possible opportunities.

Concerning the first step of manager’s decision process it is the same. A

manager has to define the issues and the objectives and then make a SWOT

analysis (collect information/analyse). He has to ask himself the question:

“where do I want to go and how?”

Romain Edouard don’t talk about that for chess but we could add it with the

step “analyse”. This question is also applicable to the chess player. In the same

way he has to define his objectives. The “how” in the question, is in fact found

with the analysis.


Then, the second step is looking for solutions or different options (Romain

Edouard’s term). We have again the same step.

Once the chess player has analysed his position, he has to choose some

candidates moves. It corresponds to 3 or 4 moves which could be the best

options according the analysis.

In the same way, a manager has to select what may be the best solutions, the

best options according to his analysis.

The third step is to finally choose the best option and assess it (and/or calculate

it, to use the term of Romain Edouard.

About chess, it consist to “calculate” (= anticipate move in its mind) the possible

moves in the different options considered and see what may happen with these

moves. Then we could add a step whose Romain Edouard doesn’t talk about

but Mr Touchebeuf do, it is to choose one option.

About business, it is the same thing. Mr Touchebeuf talk about “choose the

(good) one” which seem to us the best, and “assess it”. The notion of

“evaluation, assessment” in business, correspond in fact to exactly the same

thing that “calculation” in chess. It is just consider an option in order to have the

first following overview: a move (for chess) or a decision (for business) could it

be good or not?

We have seen that the third step for chess and business is exactly the same

“chose one and assess/calculate it”. What about the third step?

The last step has a slight difference between chess and business. There are in

fact two steps. Mr Touchebeuf talk about “decide and implement” and then

“control”. GM Romain Edouard just talk about “verification”. However, we can

of course infer that after control, a chess player has to “play” his move; so make

the decision, implement it. The order of the two last steps for chess and

business is representing with the following table:

Chess Business

Verification Decide and implement

Decide and play the move Control

The difference is very simple to understand. In a company, when a decision is

make, is always possible to adjust it if necessary. That’s why control is

important, to check if we plan is good, and adjust some details if necessary.

In chess, it is quite different. Indeed, a chess player cannot go back when he

plays his move. A famous motto exists in chess: “pieces touch, pieces play”. It

is a very famous rule in the international chess. When a chess player play a

move, it is too late. That is why, before to make the decision, he has to analyse

the willing final position in his mind.

Therefore, the only difference between chess and business in the decision

process, it is this little reversing of the two last steps of the decision process.

Table 5: Last step of decision process


Definition of risk

What about the definition of risk for chess and business? We are going to see

that the keyword for the risk definition is in fact the “uncertainty”. The risk

definition of Romain Edouard (reformulate with my own word in order to better

understand our analyse) is:

“Play a move in order to win the game with the possibility unexpected and

uncertain to get a worse position (and lose)”.

The Bernard Touchebeuf’s definition is (we have also retained the main idea):

“Unexpected and constant change of situation, enemy of the forecasting and

preparation. Require all the time adaption”.

Unexpected, necessity of adaption, enemy of forecasting and preparation the

main point to retain is the cause of all these words: the uncertainty. We cannot

plan everything. More possibilities exists, less we will have control and more

risky it will be. And reversing, less possibilities exists and better will be the

control we will have. It could go in both ways, better or worse. For instance, a

chess player who will not take risks, will play solid. He will play only the move

whose he is certain that he will not lose, even if it is not the best move.

An example with a manager who will not take risk is for instance a manager

who will stay in an existing and saturated market. It could win money because

he will respond to a need, but he will not win a lot of a money and could even

lose money if an innovative competitor appears and takes risks. A well-known

example could be the companies who did not know how to adapt itself face to

the emergence of the online apparition or the e-commerce, and who did not

change anything. Today these companies are gone*.

Finally, both definition of Romain Edouard and Bernard Touchebeuf are

complementary and resume specifically the definition:

Play a move/take a decision, with the possibility unexpected and uncertain to

get a better or worse situation. Risk in fact exists because of the disability for a

manager/chess player to consider everything, the million existing possibilities.

Necessity of taking risk (good thing?)

We have just seen a first overview in the previous paragraph if the risk is the

good thing (see *). Let’s analyse what Mr Touchebeuf and Romain Edouard say

about it. According to Mr Touchebeuf, risk “makes business life especially

interesting and challenging”, and according to Romain Edouard risk “makes

chess exciting”. We see a first point: risk give an interest and a motivation to

the chess player or manager. But it is not the most important. Let’s see the

second comparison.

Both of them say that our success depend of the risk we take:

“The more risky the situations are, the better you will be able to succeed” Bernard Touchebeuf


“Sometimes it (the risk) is the only way to achieve goals.” Romain Edouard

To move on we do not have to stop face to a risk. We have to take it and go

ahead. Let’s take an example. If a company which succeed in France for

instance, wants to develop and make business in a foreign country. Does it has

to stop face to a currency risk (or any other risks) and just stay in France? It

could never develop! We know that all the biggest companies all around the

world are present everywhere and take risks! It is not different for chess. Take

risks to win.

The notion of self-confidence is the risk-taking is also very important, we are

going to explain why. In our previous example about a chess player who do not

take risk and just play to not lose. A self-confidence player will trust his

“intuition” (see part “decision-making” in the qualities comparison part) and will

take the risk if it is the best option, the best choice. Trust himself, the self-

confidence is trusting his “intuition”, the sum of our knowledges. The more self-

confident a chess player will be, the better will be his choice and better he will

be.

It is also applicable for a manager. The better will be his self-confidence, the

better he will trust his intuition and the better will be his choice and his decision.

To recap, the real core competencies in chess and business, it is ourselves.

Therefore, self-confidence help to take and overcome risks. And because of

that, we will be able to succeed.

How keep an advantage?

We cannot make a comparison in this part because we have very different

elements. However, some elements are very complementary for chess and

business.

For instance, Romain Edouard say that to keep an advantage a chess player

has to be “aware and have a clear vision of what is happening without be afraid

by fake threats for instance”. It is obviously applicable also to business.

Managers must have a clear vision of what is happening in the market without

be afraid by “fake threats”. It could be a waste of time and could slow-down or

even block a good decision, exactly like chess. We have to remember: play the

right move in the right time. Timing is very important in chess such as in

business.

Some of the different keys elements to keep an advantage according to Mr

Touchebeuf are also applicable to chess. The first element and second element

are respectively “work to be the best” and “always improve himself, the

company, the quality, services”. They are very similar and they have the same

application in chess. We have seen that intuition is very important and

correspond to the sum of our knowledges. If a chess player work to be the best,

he will work to improve his knowledges in order to get a better intuition and

keep an advantage against his opponents.

Finally, the last element is “Communicate on your strengths, specificity, make

people believe that you are the only one”. In this case, it is actually the reverse


in chess. A chess player does not look for give more information than

necessary. The less information people know about us, the best it is. It is a part

of the psychological aspect in chess and it is very similar to the poker players.

If we communicate about our weaknesses or our strengths, it could be bad for

us; except if it is calculate. For instance, Bobby Fischer in 1972, in his match

against Boris Spassky change literally his opening (First move: pawn d4) and

it was a big surprise for everyone because he played usually e4 instead of d4.

He won this match. In this case, Bobby Fischer was aware that Boris Spassky

knew exactly what he played usually, and was very well prepared against him.

Therefore, Bobby Fischer exploited this information and play another move.

The previous work of Boris Spassky had become useless.

Chess players have to be aware about the information they unintentionally give,

for instance in the online chess database, and adapt themselves; exactly like

Bobby Fischer against Boris Spassky in our example (see the “Pawn Sacrifice”

movie which tell us very well this story).

Success keys

As the same way that our previous part, the different elements of chess and

business could be complementary, or even applicable in a very different way.

Firstly, according to the GM Romain Edouard, the key of success in chess is:

“Always try to play the best move and not settle for a minimal and risk-free

advantage (be conservative does not work)”

We have already talked about it previously. Play the best move even if it is

risky. It is the same thing in the business environment (cf. the part “Necessity

of taking risk” for more details).

Then, according to Mr Touchebeuf, the success keys in business are:

“Be innovative and adapted to the customers ‘needs, be able to change the

decision if it doesn’t reach the expected goal, be focus on efficiency and use

the less resources as possible to reach the goals.”

About the first point: “be innovative and adapted”. It is also applicable to a chess

player. He has to play adapted moves according to the position. Besides, he

must be “innovative” in a sense who he must try to see beyond his theoretical

knowledges. For instance, the “theory” in chess correspond to the beginning of

a chess game. It exists perhaps hundreds or thousands theoretical moves in

the beginning of a chess game. The theory is establish according to the millions

of games played from several years ago to nowadays. It evolves constantly

with the growth of the chess programs which are more and more powerful. A

very good chess player has not to just learn by heart his theory, but understand

it, and must be ready to play “new” moves if necessary. In this sense, a chess

player has to be “innovative”.

Concerning the second point: “be able to change the decision if necessary”. It

is also applicable to chess. A chess player could have a plan but sometimes, it

is necessary to change it according to the moves of the opponent; because it


is not adapted anymore. A chess player has to be able to detect when the plan

is not appropriate anymore, and to change it if necessary. He must know to

stop himself and not obstinate to continue his original plan. Therefore, a chess

player is in the same situation than manager in this case.

Finally, about the third and last point: “be focus on efficiency and use the less

resources as possible to reach the goals.” The efficiency notion in chess could

be compare to the best utilisation of each chess pieces in a game. In the case

of a chess game, we have to be focus on the efficiency of the pieces but, unlike

business, all the resources have to be use. In chess, a number of points is

generally allocate to each pieces (pawn = 1 pt., bishop/knight= 3 pts, rook=5

pts and queen 9 pts). But according to the position, the pieces are more or less

strong. More a piece will control cases in the chess board, more powerful it will

be. For instance, a knight in the 6th rang of the board, or a past pawn (close to

the promotion and become a queen on the 8th range), could be much more

powerful than a tower or even a queen. It always depends of the position. All

the resources (the chess pieces) in chess, have to be use in the best way. In

this case, be focus on efficiency is a key of success in chess.


2) Sun Tzu: the teaching for chess & business

In this part, we are going to apply lessons from Sun Tzu and its arts of war to

chess and business. This part is closely linked to our previous part “Chess and

Strategic Management”. This part could also respond to our previous gaps

identify in the literature review conclusion.

The first Sun Tzu’s teaching is:

“Victory usually goes to the army who has better trained officers and men”.

Sun Tzu & Magnusson Art of War (2012)

What does this sentence could teach us about business? It is easy to make a

link between “trained officers and men” and training and development of

managers (“officers”) and employees (“men”) in a company. Training and

development is very important for the proper functioning, the competitiveness

and the efficiency of companies. They have to create new talents and ensure

of the involvement and the motivation of its employees. Thus, the company

could get competitive and constantly growing core competencies thanks to

them. These are the reasons why companies have to invest on training and

development. Therefore, more a company will invest on training and

development and more often it will success; or “usually goes to the victory” to

use the Sun Tzu’s terms. It is also true for the manager’s knowledges and

training (cf. part about “intuition” p.22-23).

What about chess? It is exactly the same teaching and we have already talk

about it (cf. p.22-23). The global knowledges of a chess player. More he will

improve his knowledges, better he will improve his intuition and so better will

be his decision-making. Of course, if he takes good decision, he will success.

As we have already said in

our literature review “Chess

and Strategic Management”

(p.7) that they exist two

main levels of categories for

both chess and business.

To recap, about business

we have the global strategy

and the operational

management. About chess,

we have the global strategy

and the “tactics” (= operational management for business). What does Sun Tzu

teach us about it? He teaches us for both chess and business, that the global

strategy is the most important. Indeed, the strategy can exist alone but not

tactics (or operational management). If we can win without tactics, it is not true

Fig.6: 2nd Sun-Tzu’s teaching – Source: Genius Quote


with strategy. Strategy lead our actions and give us the direction to follow. Work

just with tactic could be compare to a blind who would walk in the darkness.

Actually, tactics does exist complimentarily to strategy in order to empower it

and make it more efficient.

What about the third teaching?

Sometimes, it is necessary to pay

a price if we want succeed/win.

For instance in chess,

sometimes we have to sacrifice

strong pieces and be in

numerical inferiority in order to

get a better position and win. It

could be risky, because even if it

is the best move to play, only one

mistake in the next of the game

could be fatal. But we have to do

it. It is a necessary investment to

success.

About business, it is exactly the same thing. For instance, in order to be

innovative (and so be competitive), a company has to invest a lot of money in

Research & Development. Even if it is risky, it is also a necessary investment

to success. For instance, Samsung invested more than 14 billion $ in 2015 in

R&D, positioning like the 2th bigger investor in R&D in the world (Sammobile

2016).

What about the last teaching?

Sun Tzu teaches us that

preparation (“win first and then

go to war”) before a fight, is very

important to win. For instance, it

is very important in chess to

prepare before a game. A chess

player has to prepare his

opening according to the

opponent’s game and adapt

himself. He has to be really very

well-prepared. If he knows what

he will play and what his

opponent usually play and

forecast it, by adopting the good strategy. It is like if he “win first” before “go to

war” (just play his match).

As we have seen it our mid literature review conclusion, a chess opening could

be compare to an activity sector. Keeping that in mind, a company has to be

very well prepared and adopting wisely the good strategy before penetrating a

market, exactly like the chess player. The ANSOFF’s matrix is the good

Fig.7: 3rd Sun-Tzu’s teaching – Source: Pinterest

Fig.8: 4th Sun-Tzu’s teaching – Source: Pinterest


example for that (cf. appendix 5):

Besides, before penetrate a market a company has to study and analyse very

carefully this market according to the competition in the market and how the

strengths of the company could be an advantage in this market. If a company

does this work very carefully, it will be very well-prepared and will “win” before

“go to war” (so act and penetrate this market). By this quotation, Sun-Tzu

teaches us the wisdom to be prepared and aware of what will happen before

acting.

Existing Products New products

Existing Market Market penetration strategy Product development strategy

New Market Market development strategy Diversification strategy

Table 6: Simplified Ansoff matrix


V. Conclusion

1) Conclusion

In order to answer to our research question and complete our former

information, let’s recap what interviews bring us compare to our previous

literature review. We are going to see in almost each part if our interviews and

analyse of the Sun-Tzu teaching complete and/or confirm our information found

in our literature review.

Qualities

The following table recap the information about chess players and managers

for both literature review and interviews.

Literature Review Interviews

Psychology, Be listening

Analytical Mind Analyse, Diagnose

Forecasting Anticipation

Quickly decision-making capabilities Decision Making

Self-control, Competition Spirit and

endurance Self-Control, Patience, Temper

Focusing

Judgement

Memory

Creativity

Smart

Structured Organization

With the above table, we can easily see is are the new information in interview

compare to our literature review: the psychological aspect. Otherwise, we can

also see what are the qualities whose, neither Mr Touchebeuf nor GM Romain

Edouard do not talk about. Therefore, the information of our interviews confirm

our literature review and is even complementary. To conclude with this part, I

would to add an important quality according to me, deducted with the collected

Table 7: Qualities, information comparison


information: the self-confidence. Indeed, thanks to the self-confidence, a

manager/chess player will never be afraid to take the good decision even if it

is risky.

Decision Process


Situation Analysis Analyse

Definition of short term and long term objectives

Implementation Plan

Look for options/solutions

Calculation

Verification

Concerning the decision process, our interviews come confirm and even

complete our information in the literature review. The above table show the

complementary elements of the decision process. Additionally to our

interviews, the literature review bring us the “definition of the objectives” step

whereas our interviews bring us the “verification” step.

Risks


- Take risks when we are losing

- Do not take risks when we are winning

- Risk : necessary, good thing - Make interest to chess and

business

In this case, we have only complementary information which help us to

measure the risks issues in chess and business. However, Romain Edouard

say it is important always to play the best move even it is risky; but Luca Desiata

in its book say take a risk is only necessary when we are losing and not when

we are winning. This information raise a problematical issue: Does the risk is it

always necessary? We will suggest a possible response to this problem in our

recommendation.

Table 8: Decision Process, information comparison

Table 9: Risks, information comparison


Strategic Management & Sun-Tzu Teaching

Numerous of Sun-Tzu teaching give us precious advices applicable on chess

and business. Sun-Tzu bring us a lot of complementary information compare

to our literature review. I could not talk about everything because of the limited

number of words but I plan to continue. Even if our information are essentially

complementary, our information high-light both an important point. Strategy is

the key of success; without it, chance to win is inexistent. Strategy is based on

the long term, on the sustainability and not only on a quick gain. It is a teaching

applicable on all the companies in the world.

Limits

Despite all the advantages of the chess game for managers, several limits

exist. It is not because someone know play in chess that he will be necessarily

a good manager. It is easy for everyone to play, and lose. Therefore, there are

no rules, but we can say for sure that it is only the chess with a high level which

will contribute to make a manager better.

A last limit about our different comparison is with the team management. We

cannot make any comparison between team management and chess because

chess is an individual game. The real link is feasible because of the position of

the manager and chess player’s mind. That’s why we can say a comparison: it

is the same operating mode, the same mind and the same way of thinking.

However, it could be interesting to compare the behaviours of chess team in

club and a team working in a company.

Literature Review Sun-Tzu

- Chance to win without strategy is inexistent

- Training bring victory - Tactic cannot exist without

strategy but strategy do - Sometimes pay a price is

necessary to get victory - The true wisdom is to prepare

and win before fighting

Table 10: Strategic Management, information comparison


2) Recommendation

Firstly we will give one recommendation to the future manager which would

read my report about how the chess teaching in our report could make him a

better manager. Finally, we will give a proposition of recommendation about

the risk issue raised about risk and how to manage it.

Taking risky decision according to your objectives

We have seen in our conclusion a problematical issue: risk is necessary

according to Romain Edouard and Mr Touchebeuf, but not always necessary

according to M. Desiata.

In fact, it depends on our objectives. Take risks is not necessary on the short

term but it will be on the long term. It is working with both chess and business.

For instance, a chess player is playing a chess game, he is winning. If his short

term objective is to win only this game, we could think that it would not be very

smart to take a risk while winning (even for the best move), and thus risk losing

the game. We could think that it would be better to play for safety and thus win

the game. In this case, our assumption would be true.

What about the long term perspective? For the same chess player, if his long

term objective is to become a better chess player whether losing or winning the

game, he has to take the risk and learn from his mistakes. He has to search all

the time to play the best move and aim at surpassing himself.

This strategy will be efficient on the long term but not on the short term (if he

plays the best move but loses for instance). It is the same thing for companies

which want to progress, growth and win on the long term even if the short-term

risks could make them lose market shares for instance.

Improving your decision-making by developing your intuition

What is the key? It is not only the work, but especially the personal investment

about yourselves! My research project with the comparison about chess and

business demonstrates that our mind does not have any limits, even if we do

not know how to use it. Technically, we are all genius from birth. It is our

development which determinate who we are today. In the adult age, our brain

is already build and is not resilient anymore. But what you cannot do today with

your conscious mind, your unconscious could to it and make you a better

decision maker. Work to improve your intuition, your unconscious by improving

your knowledges, thinking, and meditation. In this way, you will teach us

yourselves and you will improve your unconscious. In a situation where you do

not know what to do, you would have just to follow your intuition which will know

what to do. We often hear about “feeling” and “reason” like two different things.

But I say that it is not true. We do not trust “feeling” or “intuition” because we

cannot control it. However, sometimes the “intuition” makes more sense that

the reason itself.


3) Future project’s perspective

I think it is too bad that managers and chess players are not in relationship

whereas they have so many point in common! I am sure they could learn a lot

of thing and help to progress each other if they could work together. That is

why, my project is not finish. Indeed, firstly I plan to deepen again my topic;

8800 words have not been enough to cover all the scope of the project. Then,

during my study next year in ESDES Business School, I plan to create an

association inside the school and using my project for this opportunity. My

future association will have several goals:

Teach the chess values to the ESDES student

Present my project to the companies and show how chess can help

them to improve efficiency in their companies by the chess virtues

(focusing, memory…) and by improving the qualities managers with

chess

Relate ESDES student and companies around chess by creating a

privileged meeting environment around chess.

Invite young chess players and future student looking for a business

school in order to present them the school and high-light their qualities

like chess player.

Create a place (and why not a final program) where managers and

chess players could exchange, learn and progress each other.

Promote chess and Esdes Business School to student and/or company

by organising particular chess event (simultaneous exhibition

tournament…)

Create a national chess tournament between all the French Business

School by 2 years


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Appendices

1) MEETING DIARY


2) TIMESCALE

Task Week

1 Week

2 Week

3 Week

4 Week

5 Week

6 Week

7 Week

8 Week

9 Week

10

Unit 1 & find the research

topic

Unit 2

Elaborate my

Research Question

Define the objectives

Unit 3

Find resources

& Literature

Review

Unit 4

Formulate the

Research Design

Unit 5

Table 11 Gantt chart 1st semester until 25 January 2016


Task Week

1 Week

2 Week

3 Week

4 Week

5 Week

6 Week

7 Week

8 Week

9 Week

10

Unit 6

Choose of Primary data and the target

of the interview

Unit 7

Question elaboration

of the interview

Choice of the

interview sample

Unit 8

Writing the mid-term Report (321)

Unit 9

Submit the mid-term Report (321)


Task Week

1 Week

2 Week

3 Week

4 Week

5 Week

6 Week

7 Week

8 Week

9 Week

10

Pursuit of the data

collection

Ask my interviewees

Reading and Analysing

data

Writing the first draft

report

Ask for feedback

Finalizing corrections & Revised

draft written report

Submit the final report

(308)

Table 12 Gantt chart 2nd semester from 8 February 2016


3) RESOURCES

Resources (for 10 weeks x 2 semester) Estimated Costs (€)

Books (2 books bought and the others already owned)

£13.8 + £0.76 + 4 other books estimated to around £70 = £84.56

Transport (1st semester £3.94 / day 3 day a week; 2nd semester £2.40/ day 3 day a

week)

£3.94 x 3 days x 10 weeks = £118.20 £2.40 x 3 days x 10 weeks = £ 72

Food (£3.25 per meal and 1 meal per day 3 day a week; same budget for the 2nd

semester)

£3.25 x 3 days x 10 weeks x 2 = £97.50 x 2 = £ 195

Time

10 weeks to complete the mid-term report

20 weeks to complete the final dissertation

Participants Chess players and Consultant or

Management Coach

Total £469.76 Table 13 Resources


4) COVER LETTER

Dear respondent,

I am a postgraduate student at Coventry University pursuing a

Bachelor of Arts with Honours Degree with a specialization in Global

Business. To complete my degree course, I am conducting a study

about Chess and Business.

You have been selected for this interview because of your job, your

skilled and your experiences concerning Chess or Business. I want

to do a comparison between Chess and Business concerning

different sides such as the strategic management or marketing and

Chess Strategy, the decision process of a Chess player or a

manager and the different behaviours of a Chess player and a

manager. Your experience could help me to provide information to

do this comparison.

In order to respect an ethic chart and guarantee your confidentiality,

thank you to tick the following permission that you want, or not to

granted:

YES NO

Permission to divulge your name

Permission to divulge your job

Permission to record the interview

Sign and date


5) INTERVIEWS FORMS

CHESS INTERVIEW

NAME : JOB : DATE :

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GREAT CHESS PLAYER?

BEFORE TO TAKE A DECISION, COULD YOU SUMMARIZE IN FEW WORDS, YOUR DECISION PROCESS?

HOW COULD YOU DEFINE THE RISK NOTION IN CHESS?

DO YOU THINK THE RISK IS A GOOD THING IN CHESS?

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE BEHAVIOURS TO ADOPT IN ORDER TO KEEP AN ADVANTAGE?

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT THE KEY OF SUCCESS IN CHESS, TO WIN A GAME? IN THE PLAYER’S BEHAVIOUR?


BUSINESS INTERVIEW

NAME : JOB : DATE :

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GREAT MANAGER?


HOW COULD YOU DEFINE THE RISK NOTION IN BUSINESS?

DO YOU THINK THE RISK IS A GOOD THING?

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE BEHAVIOURS TO ADOPT IN ORDER TO KEEP A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE KEY OF SUCCESS FOR A COMPANY? IN THE MANAGEMENT ?


6) BCG MATRIX APPLY TO CHESS

Op

en

ing

Var

ian

t's

Po

pu

lari

ty

Opening Variant's Knowledge

BCG Matrix apply to Chess

DILEMMA : Popular variantbut doesn't know by thechess player. It could beappropriate to invest timeto know more this variant inorder to become a STAR.

DOG: Variant not popularand doesn't know by the player. We don't have to invest more time to know

this variant.

STAR VARIANTS: veryuseful in tournaments. It'sappropriate to know verywell those variants inorder to maximize thepotential futur win.

CASH COW: results of theinvestment in starvariants. It generatesvictories until a trend'schange about the variant.

Appendix 4 BCG Matrix Apply to Chess – Source: L. Desiata 2015


7) WRITTEN INTERWIEWS

Benjamin L’Hermitte

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +33 6 24 79 41 57

Object: Interview about Chess/Business

Dear respondent,

I am a postgraduate student at Coventry University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts

with Honours Degree with a specialization in Global Business. To complete my

degree course, I am conducting a study about Chess and Business.

You have been selected for this interview because of your job, your skilled and

your experiences concerning Chess or Business. I want to do a comparison

between Chess and Business concerning different sides such as the strategic

management or marketing and Chess Strategy, the decision process of a

Chess player or a manager and the different behaviours of a Chess player and

a manager. Your experience could help me to provide information to do this

comparison.

In order to respect an ethic chart and guarantee your confidentiality, thank you

to tick the following permission that you want, or not to granted:

YES NO

Permission to divulge your name X

Permission to divulge your job X


X

Sign and date

18/03/2016

Romain Edouard

X

X

X

X

x

x

x

x

x


CHESS INTERVIEW

NAME: Romain Edouard JOB: Chess Grand Master (Fide ID: 633429) DATE: 03.18.2016

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GREAT CHESS PLAYER?

Patience, psychology, self-control, capability to make the best decision, anticipation ability, analyse ability


1) Analysing position 2) Looking for the different options 3) Calculation 4) Verification

HOW COULD YOU DEFINE THE RISK NOTION IN CHESS?

Sometimes in order to win a fighting game but must take the risk of getting a worse position, which might mean losing the game later on.

DO YOU THINK TAKING RISK IS A GOOD THING IN CHESS?

Yes, it makes chess exciting and sometimes is the only way to achieve goals.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE BEHAVIOURS TO ADOPT IN ORDER TO KEEP AN ADVANTAGE?

It is important not to see “ghosts” over the board, which means not to be afraid of everything (e.g. fake threats) over the board.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT THE KEY OF SUCCESS IN CHESS, TO WIN A GAME? IN THE PLAYER’S BEHAVIOUR?

It is important to always try to play the best move (instead of being happy to hold a minimal and risk-free advantage) and to be ready to make concessions. Being conservative does not work.


Benjamin L’Hermitte

E-mail: [email protected]

Phone: +33 6 24 79 41 57

Object: Interview about Chess/Business

Dear respondent,

I am a postgraduate student at Coventry University pursuing a Bachelor of Arts

with Honours Degree with a specialization in Global Business. To complete my

degree course, I am conducting a study about Chess and Business.

You have been selected for this interview because of your job, your skilled and

your experiences concerning Chess or Business. I want to do a comparison

between Chess and Business concerning different sides such as the strategic

management or marketing and Chess Strategy, the decision process of a

Chess player or a manager and the different behaviours of a Chess player and

a manager. Your experience could help me to provide information to do this

comparison.

In order to respect an ethic chart and guarantee your confidentiality, thank you

to tick the following permission that you want, or not to granted:

YES NO

Permission to divulge your name x

Permission to divulge your job x


x

Sign and date

20 March 2016-03-20

x

Y

E

S

Y

•

x

Y

E

S

Y

E

S


BUSINESS INTERVIEW

NAME: Bernard Touchebeuf JOB: Management Consultant DATE: 20th March

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE QUALITIES OF A GREAT MANAGER?

A great manager should be able to listen (to people), observe in depth (situations), diagnose, anticipate, and make decision knowing how to appreciate an inevitable part of risk.

He is able to face any situation, knowing what to do if everything seems to fail or doesn't work the way he wanted…

He is able to create a positive relationship with all his partners and stakeholders, either from his (or her) team (employees, peers…) or from outside the company (customers, providers, partners, bankers…)

He always wants to succeed in what he undertakes…

BEFORE TO TAKE A DECISION, COULD YOU SUMMARIZE IN FEW WORDS, YOR DECISION PROCESS?

1. Clearly identify and define the main issue, the "real" problem to solve, the "real" decision to make

2. Collect any information about this issue, gather as many opinions on it as possible, even some contradictory

3. Look for solutions in a creative and innovative way (think "out of the box"), find some (as many as possible)

4. Choose the one that seems to be the best for now, and see how to implement it

5. Decide and implement what has been decided (with control)

6. Evaluate the result and correct it if necessary

HOW COULD YOU DEFINE THE RISK NOTION IN BUSINESS?

Notion of risk is an integral part of the business… as well as you can prepare yourself to face any situation, many parameters could change without you to have any influence on them… and you have to adapt yourself all the time.

DO YOU THINK TAKING RISK IS A GOOD THING?

Risk is what makes business life especially interesting, because it is challenging oneself all the time.

People who want to do business must appreciate taking risk… the more risky the situations are, the better you will be able to succeed and get a great result from your action.

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE BEHAVIOURS TO ADOPT IN ORDER TO KEEP A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE?

Try to be the best, always improve the quality of your business, product, service

Communicate on your strengths, on your specificity, make people believe that you are the only one…

IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT ARE THE KEY OF SUCCESS FOR A COMPANY? IN THE MANAGEMENT ?

Be very innovative and perfectly adapted to the customers’ needs and wants

Always be able to change if any solution/decision appears not to bring the expected goals

Keep focused on the essential to use as little energy and resources as possible to reach your goals


8) ANSOFF’s Matrix

Source: < http://marketingmixhub.com/product-market-growth-matrix/>

benjaminl cw2 project308submission

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