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

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

Q # 1: VISION, MISSION, GOAL AND

OBJECTIVES OF NBS

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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 responsibility 1.

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

1
NUST Formal Vision

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

 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 SELECTED
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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

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

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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2.2: BURJ KHALIFA

2.2.1: W HAT 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: B URJ K HALIFA AS A P ROJECT

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 2010

Defined End Time September 2009

Undertaken by individual/ Organization Emaar Properties

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

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 Cost Parameters $ 1.5 billion

Labor parameters 22 million man-hours

2.2.3: L ESSONS L EARNT FOR P ROJECT M ANAGEMENT

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

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2.3: AIRBUS A380

2.3.1: W HAT IS IT ?

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: A IRBUS A380 AS A P ROJECT

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 A380

Objective To produce a super jumbo jet capable of

carrying 853 passengers and crew.

Defined Starting Time June 1994

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

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 Defined End Time January 2002

Undertaken by individual/ Organization Airbus Corporation

Cost Parameters €8.8-billion

Labor parameters 3 million man-hours

2.3.4: L ESSONS L EARNT FOR P ROJECT M ANAGEMENT

LACK OF COORDINATION AND PLANNING

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.

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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3.1: APPENDIX

3.1.1: I NDIVIDUAL L ISTS OF P ROJECTS

Fseeha Rizvi

Fibre Optics

Human Space Travel

Internet

Izza Aamer

Portable Calculator

Laser Printer

Cell Phones

Samina Nazir

Personal Computer

First Human Heart Transplant

Robots

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 Tajdar Khan

Ink Jet Printer

Jin Mao Tower

World's Biggest Excavator

Zainab Abdul Malik

Burj Khalifa Heights

Donghai Bridge

Airbus A380

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4: REFERENCES
 Adro Roz. Wikipedia. Accessed on 6th Feb,10.Available on
<http://adrozdov.com/en/business/full/interestingfactonairbusa380projectmanagement.ht
ml>

 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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