PMN610: Analysis of the Burj Khalifa Project Post-Project Review

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the Burj Khalifa construction project, evaluating its success based on various performance indicators beyond just budget and timeline. The project is examined from multiple perspectives, including short-term, mid-term, and long-term contributions, as well as its impact on stakeholders and society. The report details how the project was successful in providing hotel and residency services, attracting tourism, and contributing to social development. However, it also acknowledges project delays and budget overruns. The analysis includes recommendations for future projects, emphasizing the importance of effective planning, stakeholder communication, and aligning project execution with long-term strategic goals. The report concludes by highlighting the necessity of clearly defined project requirements and stakeholder involvement to mitigate risks and ensure project success.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Authors Note

1ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Table of Contents
Description of the project:..........................................................................................................2
Analysing whether the project was successful or not:...............................................................2
Other performance indicators:....................................................................................................3
Recommendation:......................................................................................................................5
References:.................................................................................................................................7

2ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Description of the project:
The construction project of Burj Khalifa tower is one of the most expensive and complex
construction project that has been completed successfully. This was an architectural marvel
and it was one of the most ambitious project the government of Dubai has executed so far.
Not only in middle Asia, this project attracted attention of people all over the world and such
was the impact of the project (Sotoudehnia & Rose‐Redwood, 2019). The construction of the
Burj Khalifa tower was part of the “Burj Khalifa Town”, a construction project by the
government, which included construction of the Burj Khalifa Tower, nine residences, a
shopping mall and entertainment facilities (Kijewski-Correa and Bartolini, 2017). However,
in this report, only the project of construction of the Burj Khalifa has been analysed.
While the government of Dubai started to work on this project, it was going to be tallest
building in the world and this was one of the main reasons that the project received so much
attention from people across the world (Ghorbanzadeh, 2017). Therefore, completing this
project successfully was a huge challenge for the government of Dubai. Whether, the project
was really successful or not, a post project review is conducted in this context to analyses the
project in details.
Analysing whether the project was successful or not:
The Burj Khalifa project, which was estimated to be completed within $876 million dollars
required $1.5 billion dollar to complete the project. Therefore, there was an increase in the
project budget which is often considered as a less successful project. Increase of price of raw
materials along with cement and aluminium is one of the main reasons for increase in project
budget. Not only this changes in interior design requirements due to lack of communication
with the stakeholders is another significant reason for increase in project budget (Baker &

3ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Pawlikowski, 2015). The project was delayed as well due to changes in projects requirements
which were not properly defined for the project.
While analysing the success of the project, it is important to note that there are various
aspects that define the success of the project. Although analysis of project completion time in
reference to timeline described in the project plan is an important criteria, it is not the only
aspect of identifying a project as a successful project (Wippel, Bromber & Krawietz, 2016).
There are various other aspects as well that contributes to the success of the project. In order
to ensure success in the project, it is important to ensure that the project strategies and efforts
for project execution is consistent with the long term strategic goal of the organization. This
is a significant criteria for determining success of the project. Therefore, execution of a
project is valuable only if it provides context for implementing long-term project objectives,
while implementing long-term project objectives effectively and efficiently (Moser, Swain &
Alkhabbaz, 2015). This ensures that the project is capable of achieving of its goals which is
another important aspect of successful project execution (Walker, 2015).
The construction of the Burj Khalifa project is therefore also analysed according to this
criteria to identify if this project is successful or not.
Other performance indicators:
How the project ensures sustainability object that is providing benefits over time, is an
important standard for measuring project success (Kerzner, 2017). According to this standard,
project is divided into three categories which are shirt-term, mid-term and long-term project.
It is required to analyse the project in each of this category through continuous evaluation, as
only meeting the short-term objective is not enough, especially projects that are complex in
terms of infrastructure and where significant amount of investment is made for completing
the project (Kerzner, 2017).

4ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Along with this criteria, the stakeholders for the project, and how this project has effected
them is also an important performance criteria for this project and this is analysed in details in
this context.
If analysed in details, it is identified that the project was successful in ensuring that the initial
objectives of the project that was defined for this project has been executed successfully. The
tower was intended to provide hotel and residency service to the consumers and these
services are available for the consumers (Sotoudehnia & Rose‐Redwood, 2019). Therefore, in
terms of functionality of the project, there was no significant changes and this was a
successful aspect of the project. Another important thing to note here is that this facilities
were not only for the local peoples, but for outside people as well such as tourists. Burj
Khalifa, which is one of the iconic tourist attraction in Dubai has enhanced the tourism
market significantly. It attracts a lot of tourists thus providing opportunities for the local
people for income. Therefore, the project has ensured social development as well and this is
another significant characteristic of the project.
It has contributed to the revenue of Emmar, where after Burj Khalifa no such major
construction project was executed and the revenue increase is credited to the Burj Khalifa
project.
When the project was started, there was debt in the market due to the urban development that
was executed by the government and most of the construction project was affected.
Therefore, it was not ensured whether this project will be completed or not, but eventually it
was completed. Therefore, evaluating the project in terms of its completion time is not an
effective consideration for this (Meredith, Mantel Jr & Shafer, 2017). In fact the project was
not completed within the specified time and it was nine months delayed, but it was
completed. As already described, during the execution of the project, due to market debt,

5ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
most of the construction projects in Dubai was delayed and therefore this is not an effective
criteria for measuring the success of the project.
Therefore, if the overall performance of the project is analysed considering the project
constraints as already described, then it is a successful project because of its social and
economic perspective and how it has enhanced it as well.
Recommendation:
The project is evaluated in terms of individual or short-term, organisational or mid-term and
social or long term contribution of the project. Along with this the effect of the project on the
society is analysed as well. Now in reference to this analysis, some recommendations are
provided in this context.
The project was delayed, and it was not completed within the allocated budget. Therefore,
stakeholder satisfaction was not ensured in the project. The project, along with this, was not
capable of meeting the commitment which was made with the partners of the project. Due to
this there was change in design of the interior which required additional cost as well.
Therefore, even if the concept of the project is effective, if planning and execution of the
project is not efficient, then it is not easy to ensure success in the project (Meredith, Mantel Jr
& Shafer, 2017). Therefore, proper planning along with negotiation with the project
stakeholders is a recommended strategy because if the project needs to implement change
request of the stakeholders, then it will delay the project and also increase the cost of the
project as well (Fleming, & Koppelman, 2016). In order to ensure this, project plan should be
effective while considering the project requirements so that there is less chance of variation in
project requirements (Heagney, 2016).
Even though the government had an adequate idea regarding the economic condition and debt
in the market, the main focus of the government was not in completing the project, but to

6ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
make it the tallest building in the world. However, even after the building becoming the
tallest building in the world, the government even continued to increase its height which
increased the cost of the project further. Therefore, execution of the original plan for the
project would have been an effective and efficient decision in this context (Kijewski-Correa
and Bartolini, 2017).
In order to ensure that the output of the project is effective, it is recommended that proper
communication and corporation is ensured with the local people (Ghorbanzadeh, 2017). The
advantage of this strategy is that, even if there is some other building made in Dubai that is
taller than this, it still would have the characteristic of the Empire State Building. However,
for this, corporation with society and government along with local people is required.
Conclusion:
When a complex project is implemented, it is required to ensure that the requirements of the
project is defined properly and each and every stakeholders has a clear idea regarding the
project objectives and project scope. When, project scope and project requirements are not
defined properly for the stakeholders, then there is a chance of change in project scope and
project requirements. Due to this there was a requirement for change in the interior design of
the project. Therefore, the project was delayed and the cost for the project was increased as
well. However, if the overall performance of the project is analysed while considering the
project constraints as already described in this context, then it is a successful project because
of its social and economic perspective and how it has enhanced it as well.

7ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
References:
Baker, B., & Pawlikowski, J. (2015). The design and construction of the world's tallest
building: the Burj Khalifa, Dubai. Structural Engineering International, 25(4), 389-
394.
Fleming, Q. W., & Koppelman, J. M. (2016, December). Earned value project management.
Project Management Institute.
Ghorbanzadeh, M., 2017. The harmony between architectural forms and structural Case
Study: Burj Khalifa Dubai. Bulletin de la Société Royale des Sciences de Liège.
Heagney, J. (2016). Fundamentals of project management. Amacom.
Kerzner, H. (2017). Project management: a systems approach to planning, scheduling, and
controlling. John Wiley & Sons.
Kijewski-Correa, T. and Bartolini, A., 2017, July. Flexible Architectures for Full-Scale
Performance Evaluation of Tall Buildings: Burj Khalifa and Beyond. In International
Conference on Experimental Vibration Analysis for Civil Engineering Structures (pp.
17-37). Springer, Cham.
Meredith, J. R., Mantel Jr, S. J., & Shafer, S. M. (2017). Project management: a managerial
approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Moser, S., Swain, M., & Alkhabbaz, M. H. (2015). King Abdullah economic city:
Engineering Saudi Arabia’s post-oil future. Cities, 45, 71-80.
Sotoudehnia, M., & Rose‐Redwood, R. (2019). ‘I am Burj Khalifa’: Entrepreneurial
Urbanism, Toponymic Commodification and the Worlding of Dubai. International
Journal of Urban and Regional Research.

8ANALYSIS OF THE BURJ KHALIFA PROJECT
Walker, A. (2015). Project management in construction. John Wiley & Sons.
Wippel, S., Bromber, K., & Krawietz, B. (2016). Iconic Spaces, Symbolic Capital and the
Political Economy of Urban Development in the Arab Gulf. In Under Construction:
Logics of Urbanism in the Gulf Region (pp. 41-54). Routledge.