MERIT 2011 has been set up to model a construction industry operating in an economy emerging from a recession with up to date bank interest rates and charges and current corporation tax. Learning to survive as a construction business in tough market conditions with fierce competition is the knowledge currently needed by our industry executives.
After completing eight rounds simulating two years of trading the top six teams will be invited to Loughborough University to experience a further two years of simulated trading in the MERIT 2011 final, the winning team will be presented with the ICE’s Silver Salver and named the 2011 MERIT Champion.
Registration
- Nov 2010 - 21 Jan 2011
Submissions
- Round 1 - 03 Feb 2011
- Round 2 - 10 Feb 2011
- Round 3 - 17 Feb 2011
- Round 4 - 24 Feb 2011
- Round 5 - 03 Mar 2011
- Round 6 - 10 Mar 2011
- Round 7 - 22 Mar 2011 - Please note changed date
- Round 8 - 29 Mar 2011 - Please note changed date
Final at Loughborough University
- 11 & 12 April 2011
The main MERIT competition, the next one scheduled is MERIT 2024, is an annual event open to all construction professionals, both in the UK and abroad.
To take part in the simulation participants do not have to leave their place of work, making Merit a very cost-effective training tool, and one that requires minimal internal administration.
Participants need to form a team of up to 4 people - a minimum of 3 is recommended to benefit from the team-working aspects of the simulation, and select a team leader to become the main contact for the competition.
Having registered for the competition, the key components for taking part are:-
- A web browser to use the online software known as the Team Module. We recommend Chrome, but all modern browsers are supported. The Team Module enables decisions to be entered, information to be extracted and performance to be measured for the company being managed
- A powerpoint slideshow tutorial that covers all aspects of the simulation (also available as a PDF version to aid searching)
- Trial data for practising prior to the start of the competition
Once the competition commences the online software is used to communicate decisions to and from the Game Controller, the decisions being held in the team's unique company database.
There are 8 rounds in the first phase of the competition, known as the Early Years. Each round is played over one week, and will normally require between 1 and 2 hours of each team member's time per week.
The top teams from the early years will be invited to an intensive final held online, known as the Final Years, when the skills gained to date will be put to the test in an even more competitive environment over a further 8 rounds.
The following links are tables giving the usage statistics of MERIT for 2000 to 2020, this shows that there have been 22,361 participants in MERIT in that time, 15,098 coming from the International Game, 7,263 from University students and from commercial organisations.
Data from the early years prior to 2000 is not recorded in the same detail but as the same staff were overseeing MERIT in these years informed estimates can be made with a high confidence. These estimates indicate participation in the years prior to 2000 to be greater than 10,000 giving a total number of participants approaching 32,400.
The benefits of using the MERIT simulation as a learning vehicle are based upon principles of adult learning. It is widely accepted that adult learners acquire knowledge in a different way from the typical classroom environment. Recognising that MERIT utilises learning methodologies and tools to help transfer knowledge, skills and competencies need to improve the business skills and understanding of young engineers so that they in turn deliver improved performance for their organisations. In the jargon of education MERIT is an action-learning exercise designed to anchor important lessons of business success with the participating teams. Thinking strategically, performing in the midst of chaos and balancing risk and reward all play out in the simulation which most of the participants find engaging. The simulation evolves and incorporates evolving legislative, regulatory and sector practices keeping the challenge of MERIT modern and relevant. Examples of changes introduced over the period of operation have included:
- Tools to enable detailed interactive analysis of key business areas
- Learning enhanced by detailed powerpoint tutorial, and participants can ‘trial’ the simulation prior to the start of a competition
- Move from a contracting company to a Plc with ability to invest in other businesses
- Enhancements to the 2-stage tendering process
- Developments of risk, and its affect on bidding and job progression
- Changes to the use of project managers to reflect what happens in the real world e.g., ‘golden hellos’, resignations, grudges
- Labour fluctuations in the market
- Expansion of the key performance indicators in line with industry trends
- Introduction of Quality and Health and Safety into the overhead function
- Client relationships impact on more areas of the business
A key feature to MERIT’s success is that it does not take the trainees away from their work place for extensive periods and so fits with the demands of the modern industry that training is delivered effectively in the work place.
It demonstrates that with the appropriate development and support e-learning can be both inexpensive and effective.
The operation of MERIT is as illustrated.
The advisory panel agree the defined market conditions for the simulation and once set up and running there is no intervention by the game controller.
Each team starts from the same set of company performance data representing one year’s trading so the growth or decline of companies over the next two simulated years of trading in phase1 can be directly compared and so generates the motivation of competition.
The performance of each company is measured by :
- Turnover
- Operating Profit to Turnover ratio
- Company Value
- Capital Employed
- Contract Completion Rate
- Forward Workload
- Forward Margin
- Share Price
- Client Satisfaction
At the end of the two years trading the top six `teams are brought together for the final two years of trading and competition is accentuated by competing now against each other as well as the simulation. This heightens certain aspects such as competition for quality staff and project managers. This new level of competition makes outcomes from the decisions even more uncertain.
Starting from an historical position of one year's trading, a company must be managed through two phases:-
Phase 1: The Early Years
The team, operating as a board of directors, runs the company and competes against a computer-generated company for contracts over a number of rounds in a simulated construction market which is updated regularly to reflect the changing industry conditions.
Each round, known as a period, represents one quarter, or three trading months. The dynamics of this stage of the competition enable the teams to appreciate the impact of each decision they make.
Phase 2: The Final Years
The leading teams from the early years compete in the final years over a further number of rounds. Each team starts with their company operating from its position at the end of the early years, allowing them to benefit from their decisions to date.
During the final years the teams will compete against the computer-generated company and each other for both jobs and staff, ensuring an even more highly competitive environment.
Inter-alia MERIT:
- Introduces the participants to company managerial and financial management which was not the focus of their previous technical training and experimentation is within a controlled environment
- Provides a greater understanding of the problems and decisions that are involved in running a modern construction company and the interdependency of the management functions
- Raises awareness of their own role in the commercial process
- Gives a more holistic perspective of the construction process
- Improves team-working, communication skills and other interpersonnel skills
- Supports the development of broader and hybrid skills
- Develops analytical and problem-solving techniques
- Measures performance benchmarked against other competing teams and so develops a heightened sense of the existing competitive commercial environment and thus produces young executives more aware of the commercial realities of business
- Facilitates development of skills required for managing in an IT dominated environment
The Merit simulation has been designed to encourage the separation of team member responsibilities into different managerial functions to foster responsibility and teamworking, and the success or failure of the company may well depend upon the effective interaction between the different factions.
For example, a typical scenario for the structure of a team might be :-
The MERIT acronym stands for Management Enterprise Risk Innovation and Teamwork. The main objective of MERIT is to enable young engineers to effectively acquire these additional skills required to progress their careers.
The simulation is designed to demonstrate the interdependence of the various managerial decisions and the interlocking nature of the variables that determine the success or failure of a construction company. MERIT has great potential to impact on the duration of the learning curve of young engineers.
MERIT as a simulator shows how managerial and technical decisions made today unfold into tomorrow’s operational and financial results. It develops in participants a greater dexterity in exercising the decisions involved in their functional roles. It develops skills in other functional aspects of the organisation outwith their own scope of responsibilities.
Each participating team (ie virtual company) is required to make key decisions. These decisions cover the various functions that interplay in the management of a construction company and include marketing, estimating, tendering, finance and personnel management. These decisions cover both strategic and operational aspects of the company’s management.
MERIT offered a breakthrough in the approach to training engineers in company and financial management which was inter-alia by experience, by attending formal courses or by reading. None of these traditional approaches offer the opportunity to practice, through simulation MERIT does. The new MERIT approach was much more dynamic and as such stimulates further study, encourages the participants to develop their analyses supporting their decision. In many cases these are sophisticated analyses and allows the participants to explore strategies and experiment with potential outcomes.
MERIT was also a breakthrough in the scale of training in these topics. For example the National Construction Business Game run on behalf of the Institution of Civil Engineers is in two phases, phase 1 whereby all the teams are competing against the simulation and phase 2 whereby the six leading teams come together to compete not only against the simulation but against each other. Phase 1 provides the opportunity for unlimited numbers to participate and this has made MERIT a very widely used training vehicle and arguable the most cost effective training vehicle current available.
Prior to phase 1 there is a multimedia tutorial that allows participants to familiarise themselves with the concepts and workings of MERIT, it allows access to the MERIT simulator, training them in the decisions they will have to make, allowing them to experiment without penalty. This is truly an educational phase and the lessons learned are tested in phase 1 where their performance is measured against all the other teams.