CIOB GSC 2016 - Period 8
After the Easter break teams are back refreshed and that has sparked some changes as there has clearly been some new thinking and analysis.
Glasgow Caledonian's 'Cali Construction' hold their top place but now in second is Loughborough's 'Team Poseidon' who rocket up from 13th to 2nd. Hong Kong's Poly U's team 'BRE Team 4' rise from 7th to 3rd. Deakins 'AGBA' rise four places to 4th. Oxford Brookes stay in the top six but slip to 5th place and Bond's team 'Bond Agents' rise six places to enter the top six at sixth.
So we have four new teams in the top six, with those dropping out of the top six being: Glasgow Caledonian's 'RMHS'; Greenwich's 'Continuous Flight'; Loughborough's 'Team athena'; and Cape Town's 'Prestige Worldwide'.
Well it doesn't get much more turbulent than that and shows that it is still very competitive. Look at the points gap between the top six and the chasers, it really couldn't be much closer, with the only team with a reasonable gap being 'Cali Construction'. If in the top 6, I wouldn't start scheduling an appearance at the final just yet there, as there will be more changes to come.
It looks like many teams have reviewed their original strategy. If you haven't you really are nearing the point when it might be too late. One thing to keep an eye on is the market conditions. If the spend on marketing in the right sectors isn't adequate it will result in fewer jobs to bid for. If the market is tightening this could be significant. This is just one factor. All the others need controlling as well, including head office staffing, estimating effort, bids, project manager selection, project staffing, company capital, borrowings, investments, dividends, retained profits. They all matter; no one said a director's job was easy. Enjoy the challenge. Your finance director needs to watch the turnover: capital ratio if it is low then your capital isn't working hard enough. Might be time to offload capital by investing elsewhere, a shame that an external investment can earn more than your own company but it is a course of action. Your procurement director needs to watch the forward workload, this is measured in your performance but it is no good having a forward turnover with very low or even negative margins the forward margin on your workload is a key factor. So you need to in profitable work.
Two rounds to go at this stage some successful decisions get described as heroic and inspirational other less successful ones as simply foolhardy. Good luck.
Period 8 results
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission or have been asked to resubmit)
Top 10
Team's improvement
CIOB GSC 2016 - Period 7
A little shuffling in the top three Glasgow Caledonian's 'Cali Construction' rises two to return to top place and their 'RMHS' slips one to second. This could be a critical battle CIOB only invite one team from each University to the final so if both GCal teams are in the top six then the best one will be n Hong Kong. If there are two GCal teams in the top six then it will be of interest to the team lying seventh who will get the final invite.
Oxford Brookes' 'OB-one' slips one place to third. Greenwich's 'Continuous Flight Augrers' rise one to fourth. A break into the top six comes from Loughborough's 'Team Athena' who have risen four to fifth place and Cape Town's 'Prestige Worldwide rises eleven to sixth place ensuring that the top six isn't all from the UK.
Displace from the top six are HK Poly U's 'BRE Team 4' now seventh but could benefit from the two GCal teams if they stay there and Loughborough's 'Team Poseidon' who have slipped eleven places.
Just outside the top six are Chongqing's 'Oath Keeper', Curtin's 'CM Curtin 3', HK City U's 'Build Gates', RMIT's 'Solid Foundation', Bond's 'Bond Agents' and Deakin's '. So it is looking unlike that the UK dominance of the top six will hold.
A key factor to watch is how well you are using your company capital, have you got the biggest turnover you can have for the capital in the company? If not it means the capital isn't working as hard as it should. At nine times the turnover to capital there is the question whether the company is big enough to take on another project and this is determined by the client's discretion based on the company's record with that client. More than eleven times the turnover to capital it is assumed that the company doesn't have the resources to take on more work. The company can expand by borrowing. But the other side of this is that if your turnover to capital ratio is say only five it in effect means that you capital isn't working hard enough. The company has underutilized capital resources. The company faces the choice of expanding turnover if it can or reducing its capital base maybe by investing in other opportunities but that depends on the cash available and that is another aspect that needs managing.
There is still all to play for to gain a top six position.
Period 7 results
Preliminary results, subject to change. (Teams with a negative % have requested late submission or have been asked to resubmit)
Top 10
Team's improvement