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Analysis Of The Burj Khalifa Tower

Project
The UAE, located in Middle East, is the third largest oil-producing country
in the world. Currently, and over the past few years, a variety of
construction projects have been taking place in the UAE, for which the
main source of funding has been oil money. This is especially true of
Dubai, one of the seven emirate states of the UAE. Dubai has become a
significant emerging economy in recent years and has also become a
popular tourist attraction for visitors to the Middle East. Dubai has also
become famous for its many skyscrapers. One of the most impressive of
those towers is the Burj Khalifa, which as built over a five-year period
from 2004 to 2009 (www.burjkhalifa.ae).
The Burj Khalifa Town was a construction programme envisioned as a
multi-complex town. The programme included the construction of the Burj
Khalifa Tower, nine residences, a shopping mall and entertainment
facilities. This essay will focus especially on the Burj Khalifa Tower.
Burj Khalifa tower received a lot of attention even before its construction, as
it was designed to be the tallest building in the world. There are many
constructions in the world but there are rarely instances where many
people have a concern about the project from the beginning to end of
construction. This is why I chose Burj Khalifa as my topic. This essay will
evaluate the project of Burj Khalifa, and examine the success or failure of
that project. The following recommendations are made as suggestions that
might improve the result of the project.
2. The Burj Khalifa Project
Projects are distinguished from routine business activities which usually
follow regular procedures or policies. Generally, projects bring measurable
outcomes and changes and these bring about other developments and
opportunities (Tuner, 2009). According to Atkinson (1999) project
management is the set of aims and methods in order to achieve a unique
task that should be accomplishment within a given amount of time, within a
certain budget, and at a certain standard or quality.
The aim of Burj Khalifa was not just to build the tallest building. It was
designed to be a milestone of ingenuity, inspiration and achievement. An
architectural characteristic of the tower is that it represents a flower on the
desert to express a sense of national characteristic and prosperity.
Technically, the tower applied a mixed structure type between reinforced
concrete and steel frame. Also, in order to increase safety and security
against the strong winds from the coast, Burj Khalifa adopted a Y-typed
plan shape. It provides a breakthrough in architectural possibilities (Baker,
Korista and Novakm, 2007). Like this, the project tried to do something that
has not been done before. In this sense, this construction can be seen as
unique project. Frigenti and Comninos note (2002) that uniqueness is
important to project management. It helps identify new organisation risk
area, enabling management to develop and implement timely risk
management strategy.
From a functional point of view, the Burj Khalifa project has several
features.
It can be seen from figure 1 that the Burj Khalifa project was conducted
from January 2004 to October 2009. This is the one of key factor of the
project; definite date of start and finish (Kerzner, 2009). The whole
construction period of the project was 57 months and there are key
features at each stage as time advanced (Figure 1). The tower was made
up of 160 stories and was scheduled to be completed within given periods.
To this end, the project adopted a new construction technology called the
3-day cycle, a method which aims to raise the entire construction one
story per every three days (Abdelrazaq, 2008). As it described before, due
to the exceptional efforts required for this construction, the project could be
regarded as a technological innovation. Finally, it is important to examine
the objectives of project. Projects are usually judged by two criteria: goal-
oriented and ways to accomplish the projects (Kerzner, 2009). The Burj
Khalifa project tried a combination of human ambition and hard science.
Table 1. explains the goals and methods of the project.

According to Tunner (2009), the concept of a project is a vision to use
resources in order to meet a wished future. Burj Khalifa was planned by the
Dubai government with the aim of becoming a hub for finance, trade and
tourism in Middle East (Dubai eGovernment, 2010). Its facilities were
designed not only for business purposes but also for tourism and local
citizens (Table 1). It can be seen from table 1; tower has entertainment and
leisure facilities for domestic people as a respect of contribute to society.
Burj Khlifa set clear aims based on measurable outcomes. This is why Burj
Khalifa can be defined as a project.
3. Success or failure of the project
Dobson states (2007) that the internal measure of project success may be
whether the project accomplished what it was supposed to accomplish.
The important thing is that an evaluation of the project should focus on the
whole process from the planning phase to the outcome (ibid). The prime
criterion of success is what has been called the Iron Triangle, a criterion
which measures the project based on three perspectives: cost, time and
quality (Atkinsin 1999). This project evaluating criterion has continued in
the last few decades as a basic way to measure a success of failure of
project. In this sense, Burj Khalifa project also can be measured by the
Iron Triangle method of evaluation.
Before examining the project by Iron Triangle, It is possible to measure the
cost and time variance in between initial plan and actual result by the
earned value analysis to view the overview of project. The EVA uses
measure the performance of project (Anbari, 2003). Figure 2 shows how
the project worked.
From the point of view of cost, the initial planned costs of the Burj Khalifa
project was $876 million dollars. The final cost, however, was
approximately $1.5 billion dollar [1] . It is important to find reasons why this
increase in cost occurred. First of all, a rise in prices of raw materials had
gone up significantly due to the downturn of the global economy in 2008.
According to report of Global InformineI [2] (2008), the price of iron had
increased by 75% within a year. Other materials such as aluminum and
cement also increased (appendix 2). Increase of price of commodities
caused a factor to increase construction cost.
On the other hand, a change of design was also responsible for the cost
increase. The Emaar property which is ordering company of project
decided to change the final height of building: the final construction was
100 meters higher than the original design (Al abbar, 2008). Thus,
unexpected costs were incurred. Moreover, changes in interior design
planning were another reason for the increase in costs. The Burj Khalifa
aimed at being the worlds best building and wished for that building to
have the best facilities. Thus, Emaar made a contract with luxury hotel
chain Armani. The Armani wanted to change the initial interior design of
hotel. It is clear that the project spent more money in order to change the
design of the lobby and to add more luxurious fittings and furnishings to the
rooms.

Due to the overrun of its budget, as it can be seen in fiure2, the projects
earned value is decreased compare to initial plan and cost. The projects
cost management did not perform well.
Naturally, these cost factors are linked to time, which is another important
criterion of the Iron Triangle method of evaluation. Originally, the duration
of project was set for forty-seven months, starting from February 2005 to
December 2008, although excluding excavation time. However, the Burj
Khalifa project was completed nine months later, on September 2009. As
examined above, a change of design influenced not only costs of project,
but also the duration of the construction as, needless to say, additional
work was required with respect to changes in the design planning. In
addition to this, Dubais deteriorating economic condition caused a delay in
construction. This was called the Dubai shock, and was caused by the
bubble in real estate investment (Brach and Loewe 2010). As a result, this
economical decline halted construction for four months in 2008. Figure 3
shows the comparison between original plan and actual duration of project.
Finally, it is possible to use quality as a critical measure of the success or
failure of a project. Jha and Iyer (2007) insist that the most significant factor
is the project managers competence in order to achieve the stated goals.
In this sense, resources management can be a one of key factors that
could contribute depends on who build the building. The main constructor,
Samsung engineering and Besix, introduced new technologies based on
previous experiences with tall building construction. For example, Burj
Khalifa was built using mixed reinforced concrete in order to stand against
heavy wind and pressure. The bottom of the building receives massive
amounts of pressure, thus the strength of the concrete is very important
(Abdelrazaq, 2008). To achieve this successfully, the engineers did
practice tests several times prior to the construction of the tower (ibid). The
purpose of the tests was to see how the building would function under
certain conditions. This testing phase was important because it allowed
engineers to plan according to successful test-case studies. If these tests
were not carried out, and problems were found later during the construction
of the building, the cost of the project might have increased significantly.
Also, from the service perspective, the facilities of tower met requirements
of its stakeholders such as customers and interested parties. This fact is
necessary to measure the quality of project as unfavourable project to
stakeholders can cause the unexpected problems and uncertainty to the
project that contribute to failure of project (Kalsen, 2002). As mentioned
above, the reasons for delay were due to the Emaar wanting to change the
exterior and interior design plans, and the unexpected economic costs that
this incurred for the project. From the point of quality, the project is
successful.
Although the Burj Khalifa project spent more money and time that initially
planned, this is not enough to assume that the project was a failure. For
example, the Sydney opera house project spent 16 times more than the
original budget estimated. Yet, it is still regarded as a successful project
(Litsikakis, 2009). Thus, a more nuanced and sophisticated application of
success and failure is required, one which goes beyond using basic
standards such as time and cost.

4. Other performance indicators
Success of a project should not be measured simply according to whether
it finished on time and within the estimated budget. According to Wideman
(1996) definition: project success is seen as a strategic management
concept where project efforts must be aligned with the strategic long-term
goals of the organization This means that the project can have a value
when the project meets objectives from short-term to long-term. In this
sense, the Burj Khalifa project can also be measured by the following
criteria.
Benefits over time remain an essential standard by which to measure the
project. Wideman states (1996) that projects can be evaluated as time
passes: short-term, medium-term and long-term (Table 2). Furthermore, it
is crucial to define success who is the users of Burj Khalifa and what kind
of benefits brought to its stakeholders.
When the project evaluated in this aspect, firstly, the project achieved its
initial functional objectives of design. There are no functional changes with
respect to the project. The facilities of the tower, such as hotel or
residences, are available for use by the customers. These benefits are not
limited only to domestic people. Burj Khalifa has become the landmark of
Dubai and plays a role as one of the most popular tourist attractions in
Dubai. Many people come to see the tower and enjoy luxurious facilities.
Secondly, the project just finished one year ago and thus it is hard to
calculate exactly its success or failure in terms of the mid-term time-frame.
However, the financial statements of Emaar could be the criterion for
measuring its performance after the opening of the tower. The net profit
increased about 10 times compared to 2009. Furthermore, the portion of
revenue which came from external customers and sales of residence also
dramatically increased (Appendix 3). When one considers the fact that
there were no big constructions last year at Emaar, a large portion of the
increased revenue can therefore be attributed to the Burj Khalifa project.
It is true that the Burj Khalifa project did not successfully meet its schedule
and budget in terms of the internal project objectives (table 2). However,
from the perspective of the society level, Dubai has struggled with debts
which were generated due to indiscriminate urban development planning
and spending (Brach and Loewe, 2010). Many experts were concerned
whether the project would be completed or not. Although the project was
delayed by nine months, it was eventually completed. One of notable
features of the project is that there are many constructions in a suspended
state in Dubai as a result of current economic situation. Thus, the fact that
the Burj Khalifa project was completed can be a yardstick for measuring its
success as a project. If construction was continually delayed, the possibility
of the project failing (and incurring even more costs) would have been
increased because risk also grows as well (Barkely, 2004).
Consequently, in a number of respects, overall outcomes of Burj Khalifa
met its objectives. Hence, the project can be regarded as a successfully
completed project.

5. Contributions of project outcomes
There are some reasons for believing that the Burj Khalifa project
contributes to the Dubia society. The Burj Khalifa tower has value per se.
People across the globe paid great attention to the building from the
planning stage of construction, because it was known that the project would
become the worlds tallest building. According to Lynch(1996) landmark
structures might be encouraged at significant locations. This is why many
countries and cities make efforts in building landmark constructions. For
example, when people think about Paris they naturally imagine the tower
Eiffel. Beautiful and significant architecture increases peoples pride in
cities. It improves citizens moral and social development (ibid). In 2000s,
Dubai had been described as an emerging economic power. People surged
into Dubai to capitalize on this rapid economic growth. However, as stated
previously, due to the excessive real estimate investment, the economy of
Dubai deteriorated in 2008 (Brach and Loewe, 2010). In this situation, the
successful completion of Burj Khalifa could boost the economy again as
Burj Khalifa would be play an important role as a business hub of Dubai
and as a tourist attraction. Many people already consider Burj Khalifa as
the symbol of Dubai. Burj Khalifa has not only been an architectural feature
of the city but has also had a socio-economical impact.
On the other hand, it is possible to evaluate the internal business
perspective of the organisation. In terms of the construction company,
successful accomplishment of the project gave them competitiveness of
market. For example, Samsung engineering, which is the main construction
company of the Burj Kharifa project was able to involve itself in Dubai
because of its previous construction experiences such as working on the
worlds third and fifth tallest buildings construction (Taipei 101 and
Petronas Tower respectively) (www.samsungcnt.co). The participating
companies had important previous experiences and these experiences
enhanced the organisations capabilities in specific areas. Like this,
throughout the process of construction of Burj Khalifa, companies obtained
a reputation as the main constructor of the worlds tallest building, a
development which required the use of various cutting edge technologies
6. Recommendations
Up to now, this essay examined the project according to its constituents
purpose: individual level (in the short-term), organisation level (in the mid
tem) and society level (long-term). And, project outcomes effects on
society were also examined. Based on above analysis, some of following
recommendations are proposed in order to enhance the outcomes of the
project.
This project did not meet its previous objectives in terms of time and costs.
In other words, the project was not able to meet the expectations of the
shareholders. The project did not reach clear pre-negotiation commitments
and understandings with their partner. As a result of a change in interior
design, additional costs were incurred. Griffiths (1989) insists that even
though the concept of project is right, if a planning and execution is not
adequate, this can still diminish its profitability. Thus, fully negotiated
planning is recommended because repeated changes of plan eventually
increase risk to customers (Barkely, 2004). In contrast, a thoroughly
reviewed plan can maximize the effectiveness of the project.

It is a well known fact that increasing the duration of the project increases
the probability of risk (ibid). There was a serious economical deterioration
from 2008 in Dubai. In the case of the Burj Khalifa project, it is possible to
estimate the downturn in the economy. However, this projects priority was
its scale of building. As a result of this, and because it did not consider the
external situation, increases in costs were generated. There were no
specific reasons to raise the height of the building as Burj Kharifa already
reached the worlds tallest building at September 2007 and the original plan
of 700 meters was reached at April 2008. Because the situation was that
UAEs economy was going steadily down, there was no need to increase
the height and incur the additional costs. A much more pragmatic, and
certainly much more affordable decision, would have been to stay with the
original plan.
Finally, to improve further outputs of the project, maintaining
communication and cooperation with the Dubai people, especially the
government and the local society, is most important. Someday, the title of
worlds tallest building will be surpassed by other buildings. Even then, to
maintain its own sustainable competitiveness without the title, Burj Khalifa
should have characteristics like the Empire State building. That is why
cooperation with the outside society is important. To achieve this, it is
recommended that Burj Khalifa offers a variety of benefits to citizens and
tourists rather than entirely focus on the luxury of its customers.
Cooperation between society and continued effort to develop a tourism
programme is an essential factor for evaluating a successful project in the
future.
The Sydney Opera House used sixteen times more funding and took four
months longer to complete than initially planned. But nowadays there is no
one who says the Opera House was a failed project (Litsikakis, 2009).
From this example, it is possible to know that the project review and the
effort to learn from the past can be a success factor for long term strategy.
Furthermore, Burj Khalifar, in order not to remain merely a tall building in
Dubai, needs to emphasise that further investment can make Burj Khlifa
town a citizens communal, leisure, and relaxation space. If citizens cannot
use Burj Khlifa freely, it will be a place only for people who have money. As
such, Burj Khalifa would become a huge building but without any direct
links to the community and citizenry.
7. Conclusion
This essay has evaluated the construction project: world tallest building
Burj Khalifa. The project of Burj Khalifa was widely regarded as a project
which would be cemented the aspiration of UAE to be a symbolic place of
the Middle East.
There are different opinions over whether this project was successful or
not. At any rate, it seems too early to determine that the project was a
complete success. But when we just think about the whole process of the
project, one might say that this project was success in terms of the benefits
that the stakeholders derive from using the facilities. Furthermore, this
projects impacts on society have also had positive outcomes. First, the
methods in order to accomplish the project have had a great influence on
construction technology. Second, world sheds new light on the Dubai thus
further investment is expected. In this sense, it is possible to say that the
tower was successful within certain parameters. If a successful operation is
supported in Burj Khalifa, this project will bring a massive positive result to
Dubai as a long-term.


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