The Dubai Palm Islands - Case Study Example

Name : xxxxxx Tutor : xxxxxxx Title : THE DUBAI PALM ISLANDS PROJECT Institution : xxxxxxx @2009 The Dubai Palm Islands Project The Dubai Palm Islands are three largest man-made islands in the world being built on the coast of Dubai, United Arab Emirates by Nakheel Properties private developer. The islands are the Palm Jumeirah, the Palm Jebel Ali and the Palm Deira with a design that will see them constructed in the shape of a palm tree, consisting of a trunk and a crown with fronds topped with a crescent island that acts as breakwater. Their development is to comprise of luxury hotels, residential villas, shopping malls, shoreline apartments, water theme parks, leisure and entertainment centres which should maintain Dubai as a premium tourist destination in the world. According to the Fashion Station (2009) Jan De Nul Company and Van Oord Company, upon completion these islands will add at least 520 kilometers of beaches to the city of Dubai while comprising of well over 1. 5 billion cubic meters of rock and sand underlying at least 100 luxury hotels and exclusive residential beach side villas. These specifications no doubt make these Dubai Palm Islands a real beauty; in fact they have already been dubbed the ‘eighth wonder of the world’. With this kind of design and expectations therefore, the project requires a superb, state-of-the-art project management approach that will not disappoint. According to Foster (2004) a technologist at Core Tech Consulting Group, Inc, anywhere between 25- 40% of developmental projects are cancelled, lose steam or are put on hold within the first 18- 24 months with excuses ranging from lack of funds to changes in of organizational structure. The better explanation for this apparent prevalence of project abortion actually is poor preparation and management of these projects. In a word; the difference between successful initiation, running and eventually completion of projects undertaken in (or by) different firms lies squarely in the method of project management approach employed. It is therefore desirable that adequate investment is done in project management before projects are undertaken to guarantee anticipation of their successful completion (David 2006). Employing a project management approach when undertaking projects aimed at introducing change proves so reliable and beneficial to organizations yielding tangible benefits to the organization almost as much as it does to the community in which the project is to be undertaken. These benefits permeate the whole lifeline of the project and in some instances outlive the company’s intended benefits to the society. Straight from inception of the project through its execution to its completion, tangible benefits afforded by employment of project management approach in undertaking them can be traced. This paper discusses these benefits while examining key strategic considerations likely to be encountered when planning and undertaking major projects skewing towards the Dubai Palm Project as the primary case study. There are different project management approaches postulated by different authorities in this field. They range from approaches that take specific interest in resources available (Critical Chain Project Management (CCM) approach) to those that focus on identifying and managing events and event chains throughout the project (Event Chain Methodology approach): from those that detail procedures to coordinate people and activities in a project (PRINCE2) to those that consider the project as made of a series of relatively small tasks conceived and executed as the situation demands rather than a completely pre-planned process (Process-based Project Management approach) (Young-Hoon 2005). The importance of using these project management approaches to institute changes and the benefits attributable to them are discussed under four general project development stages common to all project management approaches. Initiation stage Initiation stage determines the scope and nature of development of the project and is so imperative in understanding the capabilities of the organization to handle the project. In this stage, key controls needed for the project are analyzed by studying and understanding the business environment and organization’s capacity in handling the project, much more like taking inventory of the project and paralleling that with the inventory of the organizations resources. Where deficiency is observed, it should be reported and recommendations made to fix them or avail alternative options to cover the dent (David & Roland 2006). First, conceptualization of the end product of the project needs to be ensured that it is understood here so as to analyze business needs and requirements for the project with measurable goals. Current organization’s operations are reviewed to prioritize different phases of different company project s that may be in operation or are in the offing to avoid stalling of programs when the new project is begun. The obvious tangible benefit of this requirement of project management is continuance of different organization’s projects concurrently in harmony without the inconvenience of their different requirements and specifications conflicting and competing for resources sometimes causing stalling of some projects or worse still abandonment of some projects prematurely. Equipment and contracting requirements should carefully be analyzed in the view of establishing what may be needed (if any) for the project that may not available currently. Major contracting projects usually require elaborate equipment and contract awards are more often than not given based on the firm’s possession of relevant equipment or its ability to acquire them if it does not have. The inconvenience of rushing for projects only to realize that equipment available cannot sustain the project necessitating acquisition of these equipment bloating the budget significantly is one that cannot be afforded for an organization’s reputation to be maintained. After taking the inventory the organization and the project and analyzing them, supplementing where inadequacy is observed, the all important factor upon which the success of the project lies should then be taken care of: financial analysis of the project. This should incorporate analysis of the cost of the project and benefits that will be realized from it so as to determine the economic viability of the project. Decisions based on financial analysis of the project should then determine whether the project is worth venturing in and therefore a budget drafted that reflects all the requirements of the project while aiming at maximizing on the profit to be made from it: an economist’s view. Initiation stage is completed by analysis of the stakeholders. This includes users and support personnel for the project and their interests. ‘This analysis should determine the appropriateness of the personnel available for the job and determine how and’ whether the organization’s stakeholder’s interests will be met by the project. The users to benefit from the project should then be determined to gauge how the project may affect them and put in place relevant measures to take care of these effects. The project charter includes; costs, tasks, deliverables and schedule sums up the initiation stage by this charter being forwarded to the relevant committee that analyzes it in the next stage of the project management. To better grip the tangible benefits an organization gets at this stage of employment of project management approach is maybe to highlight the risks foreseeable in the event the initiation stage is not overlooked. False project starts, stalling (or complete abandoning) of projects and sub standard projects that result in firm’s reputation degradation and heavy losses are examples of such risks. Therefore is arguable that careful and full involvement in this stage is a practice that cannot be overlooked. Planning or development stage ‘After the initiation stage, the system is designed using different approach’. The commonest system design approach involves building a small prototype of the final project to be tested for authenticity. For projects whose nature does not allow building of prototypes of their final end products (like the case of Dubai Palm Islands), architectural designs and mechanical tests suffice where the project is prepared pictorially and all measurable quantities whose quality can be tested subjected to a series of tests to determine their viability and quality. Network architecture is finalized to allow the project to start taking form where the site and network elements are identified (Dennis 2007). Equipment configurations are developed so to be in tandem with project specifications. Strategic considerations based on the specific requirements and nature of the project are brought into focus so as to formulate a plan that will realize successful project procedures with minimal risks and lowest cost possible. Construction projects such as Dubai Palm Island Project have very stringent requirements to meet international quality standards that guarantee safety for the beneficiaries of the project as well as the constructors during development. In this regard, performance testing objectives and test plan is determined by carrying out relevant tests on the site of construction. This is done by analyzing the nature and location of the site to envision potential physical, ecological, or environmental factors that may pose risks to the project during and after development. The site for the Dubai Palm Island Project is at the coast of Dubai in the proximity of the Persian Gulf and strategic considerations that were considered during the planning stage of the project included the specifications of the construction method and material that would ensure that oceanic catastrophes (such as tsunamis) would be withstood substantially by the islands and buildings around (Nakheel Properties). It is very important to have a timeline within which a project is to be undertaken well outlined. This makes the organization control its undertaking of further contracts and tenders so as not have times when it is idle or cumbered with so many projects. Under this stage of planning, the project is given a tentative timeline considering the work that is to be done and this is best done by providing implementation phases detailing specific work description for each phase. Rollout schedules are then applied to all the phases. The tangible benefit of this component of project management is two fold: it puts project managers on a timeline requiring them to work towards specific goals within time limitations which brings accountability in their management and the other front is that it brings order and clarity in what should happen when making supervision and assess of project progress both professional and convenient. Having put in consideration all the relevant circumstances surrounding the project from the site to test plans to certify the quality of equipment and material to be used, a detailed project plan with all implementation activities, activity duration, activity dependencies, resource assignments and complete project timeline is developed. This serves as the blue-print to the entire project since all the specifications and recommendations detailed herein become the yardstick according to which the project is implemented. This project design should outline directives that indicate the objectives and expectations of the project upon completion. This is because the design is the one that will be used in qualifying the overall success of the project thus should detail such requirements that the project:  Satisfies its sponsors, end users and business requirement  Functions as it was intended (serves its purpose satisfactorily)  Be produced within the acceptable quality standards  Be produced within it’s the time and budgetary constraints. Production or execution stage Dubai Palm Islands Project can be considered to be at this stage in its project implementation. Creation of the Palm Jumeirah began in 2001and that of the Palm Jebel Ali was announced shortly thereafter beginning land reclamation at the onset of 2002. The Palm Deira’s development was announced in 2004 and the entire project is planned to take 10- 15 years. A well outlined project management approach that adequately invests in initiation and planning stage to alleviate all foreseeable potential threats and challenges to the project affords a very smooth execution stage since all the details of the project are already outlined and it now becomes a matter of following what was already determined and tested. The outspoken benefit exceptional project management approaches affords the organization at this stage is efficiency, convenience and ease with which the project is done since pre-planned and pre-tested methodologies are used limiting inconveniences of time wastage and errors. It is at this stage that project management slightly shifts taking much course towards resource management most of which usually is human resources. ‘This is where the process heavily involves coordination of people and resources in integrating and performing the activities of the project in accordance with the project management plan’. This involves shipping equipment to the site and construction of a safety wall to contain the project within its walls minimizing chances of the locals being exposed to risks from the materials or equipment used on the site. In as much as this stage may be considered relatively simple since it appears to be merely implementing what was already conceived, it is the time where the practicality of the methods and equipment designed for the project are tested. A myriad of practical on-site challenges will also need to be handled and preparedness of such eventualities as accidents (involving constructors), equipment break down and construction related mishaps, becomes imperative. The nature of the Dubai Palm Islands project suscepts its execution stage to many challenges in such activities as land reclamation, dredging of sand and transportation of rocks to the site that pose potential job hazards and accident. Therefore the project supervisor needs to ensure necessary safety measures are taken that should involve extensive training of the site workers on safety rules and regulations during the project implementation phase. ‘The construction industry leads all other industries in reported annual’ fatalities due to structure collapse. “This fatality rate is estimated to be about 10 fatalities per workday on construction sites in United States alone” (Harrison & Dennis 2004, p.79). In as much as causes of these collapses are as varied as they are subtle; it is unfortunately acknowledgeable that most of such accidents either occur due to negligence of safety regulations or poor supervision. Given the extent and complexity of the Dubai Palm Islands project, it is imperative that at this stage, extra care is taken in supervision and safety adherence to safeguard workers safety. In addition to the extra care that is to be taken throughout the construction process, project management approach also affords the much needed ability to gauge progress and respond to construction related situations that may not have been anticipated during the initiation and planning stages. Such strategic considerations include hidden costs during construction that may bloat the budget or quality and/or quantity of materials that may need to be revised and project management helps project managers prepare for such eventualities and plan for them. Equipped with these managerial skills, organizations are able to carry out their projects with considerable ease and a certain guarantee of efficacious results. The execution stage runs the project through till its physical construction is completed according to the project plan. Monitoring and Controlling There is a very thin line that demarcates this stage and the execution stage. In fact, a better representation of what actually happens would be one that views this stage and execution stage as a continuum given the dependence of the latter on the former. Monitoring and Controlling consists of all the processes performed to check project execution so as potential problems can be identified in a timely manner and corrective action taken where necessary. “The key benefit of this stage to organizations is that project performance is observed and measured regularly to identify variances from the project management plan” (Joseph 2003, p.234). “For multi-phase projects like the Dubai Palm Islands project, this process provides feedback between project phases so as to implement corrective or preventive actions to bring the project into compliance with the project management plan” (Paul 2005, p.45). The Dubai Palm Islands project has so many phases that are to corporately build up to creation of this state-of-the-art artificial island and therefore its monitoring and controlling measures should be keenly applied on the progress of the project so as to ensure that it remains within the directives of the project management plan. This means that monitoring and controlling stage is an on-going process that begins right after construction work begins and has four distinct aims:  Measuring the ongoing project activities (where we are)  Monitoring project variables (cost, effort, scope) against management plan and the project management base line (where we should be).  Identifying corrective actions to address risks adequately (how can we get on track again)  Influencing the factor s that could circumvent integrated change control so only approved changes are implemented (International Project Management association (IPMA), 1965). Given the longevity of the Dubai Palm Islands project (in excess of 15 years timeline), change of the work scope may happen over time. This is may be due to necessary design modifications, different site conditions, material availability, contract-requested changes or impact from third parties. In the event these changes happen, it is necessary that readjustments are made to the construction documents to reflect the changes and at this stage the viability of the project has to be re-assessed so as not to lose sight of the original targets of the project (Nokes 2007). It is clear that these modifications will yield a better ground for the organization to make decisions of the viability of the project since when at times changes accumulate, the forecasted results may not justify the original proposed investment in the project. Closing This is the last stage in project management approach in undertaking projects. It gives a summary of the details of the contract in all its phases and has an analysis of the overall performance of the project. During the closing stage, there is the formal acceptance of the project followed by its formal end. The organization archives the files and documents lessons learned throughout the entire project as part of formalizing its administrative activities pertaining to the project. Dubai Palm Island project is a novel project not observable anywhere in the world and therefore it is bound to have numerous lessons upon which future construction designs and decisions can be based. Therefore its closing stage will be very important in its project management approach especially with documentation of the lessons learnt and challenges experienced with probable recommendations of how future projects can be bettered to produce finer projects both cost effectively and with some appreciable level of satisfaction of both stake holders and the end users. The closing stage many times consists of two closely related phases:  Project closure where all activities related to the project, across all the process groups and phases, are formally closed.  Contract closure where all contracts including resolution of any open items and any other contracts applicable to the project or project phase(s) are completed and closed then all the relevant documents related to the contract finalized. Conclusion This is a generalized procedure of any project management approach in the construction industry. With it, it is clear that it makes the design, planning and execution of projects so systematic which as it has been outlined, benefits the organization in many fronts: from prioritizing its project’s requirements to checking the work with a timeline both of which work towards safeguarding the company’s reputation and maximizing the economic benefit from the project by analysis of costs and benefits associated with the project. Key strategic considerations likely to be encountered when planning and undertaking major projects have also been shown. These considerations resonate between site specifications and material availability from which adjustments are made to the project to better fit the prevailing circumstances. It has also been shown that in the event that these changes are warranted, re-assessment of the general progress of the project should be done to ensure that it does not deviate substantially from the original project management plan and targets which include its lifespan and economic viability (say as in investment). Project management as a way of introducing change in organizations has also been noted to be the best approach since it brings such changes with minimal risks and maximum benefits. When project management procedures are well outlined and followed, most contract flaws in accidents and substandard projects upon completion can be significantly alleviated both of which will strengthen the organization’s reputation in the market and improve its comparative advantage. Finally, it has been shown how the scope of success or failure of any project is solidly depended on the project management approach used. Given the multi- phases and longevity that is associated with the Dubai Palm Islands project together with the fact that it is the first project of such novelty the world over, the general success and appropriateness of the project from its inception through its construction to its completion depends on the project management approach used and subsequent adherence to the specific stages of the approach. In a word, there is no better way to envision the nature of project success and failure than to look at it in the eye of project management approach employed. References David, I 2006, Global project management handbook, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York. David, I & Roland, G 2006, “Global Project Management Handbook”, Chapter 1: The evolution of project management, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York. Dennis, L 2007, Project management (9th Ed.), Gower Publishing, Ltd., Hampshire, UK. Fashion Station 2009,World Amazing Palm Tree Island, viewed 25 October, 2009, Foster K 2004, ‘Enterprise Data Management - Warehouse Integration Solutions’, CoreTech Consulting Group, Inc, vol.14, Issue no. 3, pp. 254-266. Harrison, F L & Dennis, L 2004, Advanced project management: a structured approach, Gower Publishing, Ltd, Hampshire, UK. Joseph, P 2003, PMP Project Management Professional Study Guide, McGraw-Hill Professional, New York. Nokes, S 2007, The Definitive Guide to Project Management, 2nd Ed, Financial Times / Prentice Hall, London. Paul, C 2005, The right projects done righty, John Wiley and Sons, New York. Young-Hoon, K 2005, “A brief history of Project Management". In: The story of managing projects. (Elias G. Carayannis et al. 9eds), Greenwood Publishing Group, Medieval. Read More