2016 championsThe 'Spartans' team from WS Atkins India led throughout the final stages of the MERIT management game at Loughborough University in May, to receive the trophy from ICE President Sir John Armitt. Indeed this year was something of a triumph for Atkins' overseas operations, with a team from the firm's Hong Kong office as runner up, and two other Atkins India teams among the six finalists.

MERIT – or management, enterprise, risk, innovation and teamwork – is a web-based computer simulation which allows young professionals, working in groups and acting as a board of directors and managers, to run their own construction company. The early rounds are played against a computer, with just the top six of (this year) 117 entries making the finals, where they compete against each other.

merit2016 final positionSpartans' Akrist Pandey attributed his team's success to tactics including finishing jobs early so as to improve client relationships, while at the same time seeking out different clients to provide a broader client base. But success was also down to sheer hard work: since January the team had been working on MERIT for two or three hours every night, plus some mornings and weekends. Much of the work was done on line, as the team was spread over two Atkins offices – in Bengaluru and Gurgaon near Delhi. 'We were really enjoying it' said Pandey, 'especially after the first two rounds when we realised we were doing well!'

The Indian success may well reflect what is going on in the real world, believes Atkins' global design centre interface manager Julien Green who was proudly accompanying his teams to Loughborough. The firm has more than 1100 staff in India, enabling Atkins to resource projects in the UK and the rest of the world which it would not be able to take on without this additional support. Education in India is more than a match for the UK, says Green, and staff motivation is particularly high. 'And our Indian offices have outperformed our UK offices on a range of measures – innovation, delivery on time, quality and budget, right-first-time.' Inevitable difficulties, particularly around client interface and differences in culture, are addressed by regular exchange visits: Atkins invested nearly £20k in bringing its teams to the finals, but the trip also included visits to several of the firm's UK offices.

Just pipped into third place by 'One Atkins' was 'SUPERnOVA' from Arup's Hong Kong office, with the only UK team to reach the final – Nott MacDonalds from Mott MacDonald's Sheffield office – in fourth.

On presenting the ICE silver salver to the winners, Armitt also presented two challenges to the participants for their future careers. The first was to recognise that central to the success of major projects was politics and money: 'There are always technical issues, but there are also politics and funding. We as engineers don't like doing this. But we have to articulate the arguments. It's a challenge for the profession, we must get out and join the debate.'

His second challenge was to stimulate innovation, where he believed construction has fallen far behind industries such as biochemistry, aerospace or telecoms. Who is going to make the breakthrough in materials technology, or how to build better houses more efficiently?, he asked. 'Your success here has demonstrated you have the capabilities to tackle these challenges. With people like you coming into it, this industry has a great future.'

Also attending the finals were Alan Crane, past president of the Chartered Institute of Building which added a cash prize to the winner (check?), and Mick Guy of the Construction Industry Training Board presented a cheque for the sponsors award , which (unsurprisingly) went to Atkins India.

 

celebrateThe Early Years of the CIOB Global Student Challenge 2016 has concluded, and the Finalists have been decided.

Leading, as they have done since the round 6, are Glasgow Caledonian's 'Cali Construction', followed by Hong Kong Poly U's 'BRE Team 4' in second, Chongqing University's Oath Keeper in third, University of Cape Town's 'Prestige Worldwide' in forth, Bond University's 'Bond Agents', and Deakin University's 'AGBA' grabbing the final sixth place.

The ranking scores of those just outside the top six show how close it was and those who nearly made the final can be proud of their efforts. Many teams put in fine performances.

ciob2016 end EY

We trust all the teams who didn't make the final enjoyed the GSC 2016 competition and the training experience in company, business and financial management, together with the experience of the need for team work and leadership to deliver disciplined decision making.

For more information on how the game progressed, please visit the CIOB GSC's game page

 

firework successThe first of the MERIT 2016 prizes has been decided, so it is congratulations to Atkins India, the winner of the Sponsors Award. This is the first time the Sponsors Award has gone to India, and it will be presented by Mick Guy of CITB at the Final Dinner on 12th May.

The finalists have also been decided as the top six teams repelled all assaults, and held onto their respective positions from the last round:
Atkins India's 'Spartans' go into the final in first place followed by Atkins China's 'One Atkins', Arup's 'SUPERnOVA', Mott MacDonald's 'Nott MacDonalds' and Atkins'India's 'Singularity' and 'ATRIUM'
The final places were closely contested, as narrowly missing out on the Final by only 115 points are Arup's 'Overated' and by 129 points Arup's 'Mind over Matter'.

With three teams from India and two from Hong Kong, only one team is from the UK in this year's final, which makes it the most international ever.

The most we've had previously is two teams from the same company but this year Atkins India have raised that to three and if you add Atkins China coming from the same group then this has the look of being Atkins year.

Atkins India has featured in the Finals for the last few years but have yet to claim the top prize. This year winning the Sponsors award is the first replacing Atkins China who won it last year. Neither Atkins India nor Atkins China have produced a MERIT Champion… yet!
Atkins China was runner up last year, and Atkins UK has had one Champion in 2007 with three Sponsors Awards in 2002, 2003 and 2009.
Mott MacDonald won last year and have been Champions three times as have Arup, so there is some winning experience in the final.

Sir John Armitt, President of the ICE and Alan Crane Past President of CIOB will attend the final to present certificates to the finalists, the Silver Salver and cash prizes to the winners and runners up.

The record shows that, more often than not, the team in first place at the end of the Early Years fails to become champion, although last year the leading team did go onto win. We have also experienced the winner coming through from sixth place.
Given the points score of the finalists and another eight rounds of an even more competitive competition under severe time pressure any team can win. With only 17% between top and bottom we look forward to the tension and excitement of the battle to come. All we can promise is the final will be competitive with the high motivation of all six finalists.

Many teams put in fine performances and we trust all the teams who didn't make the final enjoyed the MERIT 2016 competition and the training experience in company, business and financial management, together with the experience of the need for team work and leadership to deliver disciplined decision making. MERIT has a record of raising aspirations and influencing future training and development as individuals think about what role in the industry they aspire too. The advice in taking part was to think like a director, act like a director. If you liked the role then set out to train to be a director. The industry needs leaders.

The jockeying for position went on till the end displayed a commitment from all teams. Every team member who's team completed the Early Years of MERIT 2016 will receive their certificate and the MERIT experience qualifies for CPD.


Click here to see the League table For Period 12