NUST BUSINESS SCHOOL

COURSE: PROJECT MANAGEMENT

ASSIGNMENT # 1

GROUP MEMBERS

Fseeha Rizvi

Izza Aamer

Samina Nazir

Tajdar Khan

Zainab Abdul Malik

SUBMITTED TO

Mr. Muhammad Taslim

DATE

10th February, 2010

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1.1: Vision........................................................................................................................................2

1.2: Mission.....................................................................................................................................2

1.3: Objectives.................................................................................................................................2

2.1: Project Management.................................................................................................................5

2.2: Burj Khalifa..............................................................................................................................6

2.2.1: What is it?..........................................................................................................................6

2.2.2: Burj Khalifa as a Project....................................................................................................6

2.2.3: Lessons Learnt for Project Management...........................................................................7

Scope Creep.............................................................................................................................7

Protests/ Strikes.......................................................................................................................7

Dubai Financial Crisis.............................................................................................................7

2.3: Airbus A380.............................................................................................................................8

2.3.1: What is it?..........................................................................................................................8

2.3.2: Airbus A380 as a Project...................................................................................................8

2.3.4: Lessons Learnt for Project Management...........................................................................9

Lack of Coordination and Planning.........................................................................................9

Lack of Support by Sponsor and Partners...............................................................................9

3.1: Appendix................................................................................................................................10

3.1.1: Individual Lists of Projects..............................................................................................10

4: References.................................................................................................................................12

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1.1: VISION

The National Business School (NBS) aims to emerge as an iconic institution producing business leaders, using an invaluable faculty, extensive research base and responsive curricula. The vision is to remain dedicated to excellence and committed to international educational perspective, in line with the parent concern; NUST. Given that NUST is a pioneer in delivering technical, educational and research needs of the country, NBS will serve its vision through inclusive management and in collaboration with renowned universities and research institutes inside the country and abroad.

At a holistic level, the focus shall always remain on excellence; in faculty, in administration, in student selection, in research base and all policies and procedures. Ultimately, the university is entrusted with the responsibility of graduating culturally enlightened, technologically knowledgeable, academically competent, moderate in outlook, and research oriented productive citizens who are prepared to lead, to inspire, and to preserve the traditions of our great civilization. The university commits itself and all its resources to this trust and responsibility1.

1.2: MISSION

NUST Business School, with its progressive and innovative outlook, aims to produce future leaders while inculcating excellence in every function. The underlying principles will remain to be merit selection, equivocal knowledge dissemination, inculcation of creative problem solving skills and depth of knowledge for the NBS student body. The university will strive to create challenging educational and cultural environments for students to refine their ability to reason and to communicate freely and clearly so as to become responsible, morally equipped, moderate and well rounded citizens of a diverse world.

1.3: OBJECTIVES

The strategic objectives of NUST Business School are;

To develop into a leading institution for business education; while simultaneously aligning objectives to serve the needs and requirements of all key stakeholders 

To break away from traditional teaching methods and move on to more effective, creative and globally practiced methods to inculcate entrepreneurial skills within students

To create a knowledge sharing culture which enables all key stakeholders to drive the image of the institute

1 NUST Formal Vision

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To create and develop curricula that reflects and balances both academic research and corporate and industry needs

Strive to foster the innate talents and ability of students to compete efficiently in the global marketplace.

Encourage research techniques and methods to develop new dimensions of business world. 

Grooming students for successful careers

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Q # 2: PROJECTS SELECTED4 | P a g e

2.1: PROJECT MANAGEMENT

Project management is the application of skills, methods, tools and techniques to achieve a certain goal or objective in the form of a project on time, on cost and according to users specifications.

A project in business and science is a collaborative enterprise, frequently involving research or design that is carefully planned to achieve a particular aim.2 A project can also be defined as a set of activities aimed to achieve a specific objective and which has a clear start, middle and end.

They are special operations designed to accomplish a set of objectives in a limited time frame. More often than not, projects are unique, temporary with a specific beginning and end i.e. a defined life span, with a defined purpose and objective. Projects often require resources which

may take many forms such as human, financial, material, supply and equipment resources.

With many varying definitions of a project, one of the most comprehensive is as follows:

Two major achievements of mankind over the past five decades will be compared to the definition of a project in order to determine the nature and extent of project management undertaken to complete each of these projects.

The two projects selected from the individual lists of projects in Appendix are as follows

Burj Khalifia Airbus A380

2 en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project

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A project is a unique set of coordinated activities, with definite starting and finishing points, undertaken by an individual or organization to meet specific objectives within defined time,

cost and performance parameters.

Association of Project Management

2.2: BURJ KHALIFA

2.2.1: WHAT IS IT?

The Burj Khalifa, formerly known as the Burj Dubai, is a skyscraper in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. Construction began in September 2004, and the tower was officially opened on January 4, 20103.

No matter how you measure it, the Burj Khalifa is the tallest man-made structure on Earth. The developer, Emaar Properties, wanted the tower to be the world’s largest building according to all four criteria set out by the Chicago-based Council on Tall Buildings and Urban Habitat. These criteria include height of the structural top of the building, its highest occupied floor, height to the top of the roof and to the tip of the building’s spire or flagpole.

The official height, which was a closely guarded secret during construction, was announced during the official opening as 2716.5 ft (828 m).

2.2.2: BURJ KHALIFA AS A PROJECT

Burj Khalifa can be thought of as a project since it constituted a number of coordinated activities such as preparing the foundation, pumping cement, installing elevators etc. It was started in 21 September 2004 and its construction ended in 4 January 2010. Moreover, the tower's architecture and engineering were performed by Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill of Chicago. Turner Construction Company was chosen as the construction project manager. The objective was to construct the world’s largest building of height 2716.5 ft (828 m), within a budget of $1.5 billion.

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS BURJ KHALIFA

Objective To build a tower in Dubai with a height of 2716.5 ft in order to make it the tallest building in the world

Defined Starting Time January 2010Defined End Time September 2009

Undertaken by individual/ Organization Emaar PropertiesCost Parameters $ 1.5 billionLabor parameters 22 million man-hours

2.2.3: LESSONS LEARNT FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

3 http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Burj_Khalifa

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There were many lessons that’s could be learnt from the completion of Burj Khalifa. These include the following:

SCOPE CREEP

Emaar Properties announced on 9 June 2008 that construction of Burj Khalifa was delayed by upgraded finishes and would be completed only in September 2009. An Emaar spokesperson said "The luxury finishes that were decided on in 2004, when the tower was initially conceptualized, is now being replaced by upgraded finishes. The design of the apartments has also been enhanced to make them more aesthetically attractive and functionally superior." A revised completion date of 2 December 2009 was then announced. However, Burj Khalifa was opened on 4 January 2010.4

PROTESTS/ STRIKES

On March 21st, 2006, 2,500 migrant laborers walked off Dubai construction sites and rioted for increased pay. Skilled carpenters were being paid US$7.60 per day while laborers were paid US$4 per day. The workers demanded better wages, overtime pay, improved medical care, and better treatment from their foremen. All workers were employed by a Dubai based firm called Al Naboodah.

The rioting workers beat security officers, smashed computers and files in offices, and destroyed about two dozen cars and construction machines at a cost of about $1 million in damages.5

DUBAI FINANCIAL CRISIS

Near the end of 2009, mainstream media reports indicated that Dubai was undergoing financial distress. Without outside assistance, Dubai would become illiquid and unable to make payments to settle its debt. A default on debt would put a hault to Dubai's other massive construction projects, including The Globe Islands. On December 21, 2009, Dubai got the assistance it required in the form of a $10billion bailout from Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, head of the entire United Arab Emirates and ruler of the neighboring state Abu Dhabi.

2.3: AIRBUS A380

2.3.1: WHAT IS IT?

4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa#Delay 5 http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Burj_Khalifa

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In 2000 Airbus undertook its most ambitious project ever, the A380. It was to be an aircraft designed to usher in a new era of superjumbo jets, capable of carrying up to 853 passengers and crew. Launch date was to be 2002.

The Airbus A380 is a double-deck, wide-body, four-engine airliner manufactured by the European corporation Airbus. The largest passenger airliner in the world, the A380 made its maiden flight on 27 April 2005 from Toulouse, France, and made its first commercial flight on 25 October 2007 from Singapore to Sydney with Singapore Airlines. The A380's upper deck extends along the entire length of the fuselage, and its width is equivalent to that of a wide body aircraft. This allows for a cabin with 50% more floor space than the next-largest airliner, the Boeing 747-400, and provides seating for 525 people in a typical three-class configuration or up to 853 people in all-economy class configurations. The A380-800 has a a cruising speed of Mach 0.85 (about 900 km/h or 560 mph at cruising altitude).6

2.3.2: AIRBUS A380 AS A PROJECT

Airbus A380 can be thought of as a project since it constituted a number of coordinated activities such as designing, production and testing etc. It was started in June 1994 and its construction ended in January 2002. Moreover, the Airbus A380 was manufactured by the European corporation Airbus. The objective was to design an aircraft to usher in a new era of superjumbo jets, capable of carrying up to 853 passengers and crew. The total budget was initially estimated to be €8.8-billion.7

PROJECT CHARACTERISTICS AIRBUS A380Objective To produce a super jumbo jet capable of carrying

853 passengers and crew.Defined Starting Time June 1994Defined End Time January 2002Undertaken by individual/ Organization Airbus CorporationCost Parameters €8.8-billionLabor parameters 3 million man-hours

2.3.4: LESSONS LEARNT FOR PROJECT MANAGEMENT

LACK OF COORDINATION AND PLANNING

6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380 7 http://www.globalprojectstrategy.com/lessons/case.php?id=23

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The main reason for the delay seems to be associated with a communications breakdown between the two main factories manufacturing the A380, leading to incompatible wiring being produced. Both sides thought they were correct: “my wires are OK, they just don’t plug into your wires!” Apparently, much of the wiring had to be removed and new wiring fitted, causing a long delay. As a result, A380 aircraft was delayed two years, at a cost of billions of dollars.8

Applying Project Stakeholder Management, and paying more attention to relationships, might have avoided this kind of difficulty.9

LACK OF SUPPORT BY SPONSOR AND PARTNERS

The delay of the A380 launched significant concern both within EADS, among stockholders, and within the international business community. On July 2, 2006, EADS chief Noel Forgeard and Airbus CEO Gustav Humbert announced their resignations. Then on October 9, 2006 Christian Streiff, Humbert’s successor, resigned because management at EADS would not give him the support and authority necessary to implement a reorganization plan for Airbus.10

At Airbus it was conspicuously absent and the failure of the harness to fit into the aircraft frame confirms that these business units failed to operate in a coordinated manner.

3.1: APPENDIX

3.1.1: INDIVIDUAL LISTS OF PROJECTS

Fseeha Rizvi

8 http://adrozdov.com/en/business/full/interestingfactonairbusa380projectmanagement.html 9 http://www.projectstakeholder.com/2008/01/16/airbus-a380-and-project-stakeholder-management/ 10 http://www.globalprojectstrategy.com/lessons/case.php?id=23

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Izza Aamer

Samina Nazir

Tajdar Khan

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Fibre Optics

Human Space Travel

Internet

Portable Calculator

Laser Printer

Cell Phones

Personal Computer

First Human Heart Transplant

Robots

Zainab Abdul Malik

4: REFERENCES Adro Roz. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on

<http://adrozdov.com/en/business/full/interestingfactonairbusa380projectmanagement.html>

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Ink Jet Printer

Jin Mao Tower

World's Biggest Excavator

Burj Khalifa Heights

Donghai Bridge

Airbus A380

Global Project Strategy. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on <http://www.globalprojectstrategy.com/lessons/case.php?id=23>

Global Project Strategy. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on <http://www.globalprojectstrategy.com/lessons/case.php?id=23>

Project Stakeholder. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on <http://www.projectstakeholder.com/2008/01/16/airbus-a380-and-project-stakeholder-management/>

Ricthiewiki. Accessed on 5th Feb, 10. Available on <http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Burj_Khalifa>

Ricthiewiki. Accessed on 5th Feb, 10. Available on <http://www.ritchiewiki.com/wiki/index.php/Burj_Khalifa>

Wikipedia. Accessed on 5th Feb,10.Available on <en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project>

Wikipedia. Accessed on 5th Feb,10.Available on <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burj_Khalifa#Delay>

Wikipedia. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airbus_A380>

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