The same teams are in the top six but the order has changed. GCU's McRanked are first ousting Loughborough's Corinth, University of Greenwichs 3CL Construction have crept up to third whereas NTU's Bau Construction have slipped to fourth. RMIT's CM Team 2 are fifth and The University of Hong Kong are down to sixth. Outside the top six but looking menacing are Loughborough, RMIT, Hong Kong, Oxford Brookes University of West of England, Northumbria, Deakn, UCL and the others.

GCU have their nose in front but amongst the others it's pretty tightly packed so it's still anyone's game. Percentage changes in scores can be more than 30% in a round. This can increase as the competition nears the end and teams start to take less conservative decisions.

Individual decisions such as employing labour or deciding with contracts to bid for sit within a 'Company Strategy', The strategy is the collective responsibility of the Board. Arrived at after each individual, responsible for their own area of responsibility has had an input. Strategy formulation will face conflicting views and confliction scenarios and conflicting data. These are resolved by disciplined discussion. The discipline is imposed by the CEO. This is leadership. The most important aspect of strategy is to determine whether it's achievable and how to implement it. Without these there is no effective strategy. The CEO together with their team of expert Board members must be convinced.

However the greatest aspect of strategy is flexibility. When the original strategy doesn't work out, when the market changes, when competition increases, when the financial status is difficult, does the Board have the wit to recognise the changes and the strength to change the strategy. An effective Board will, a casual board will plough on with the original and now failing strategy. Flexibility is a strength.

The teams that adopt a disciplined approach to Board responsibilities, Board decisions, strategy reviews and responses are the most successful in MERIT simulations as they would be in life. The successful teams adopt the mantle of senior directors they act like senior directors, they conduct themselves as senior directors and some even dress as senior directors when their Board meets. These teams have taken a step away from being students and are adopting the attitudes and behaviour that will sustain them in the more responsible roles they will fill.