Introduction

Modern technology has helped us to create magnificent buildings that stand out as superb pieces of architecture and well conceived construction planning. We know of many buildings by their sheer size, certain architectural uniqueness, or simply according to the classification as "highest", "tallest" etc. However, once these buildings become operational we often are walled from the internal activities of these buildings that keep them going. We rarely care to understand or comprehend what is going on behind the scenes; the activities that keeps these buildings running smoothly without a hitch. Huge buildings with thousands of rooms and hundreds of companies working in them need to have a centralized command structure with respect to the facilities that are available for them. It is therefore imperative that a management body be in place to take care of all the day to day activities of the firms and institutions that are located in these buildings. The stupendous task of managing the everyday affairs of the whole building and planning for future emergencies and needs is really a pretty huge one and cannot be implemented if there are no responsible authority to manage them. It is here that the project management skills of the people who are entrusted with the job of operating these buildings become important.

Analysis

Management Summary

The Empire State building, one of America's prestigious business landmarks, is a colossal business tower that houses firms and institutions that have diverse domains of interest. Official records estimate that there are more that 900 tenants in this building and the visitors that frequent the building are estimated to be 3.5 million each year. Such a huge human presence needs intricate management coordination and a well organized organizational hierarchy that can establish and maintain command centers in the building with respect to authority and planning. The building was bought by the Empire State Building Associates in 1961, and currently the building is being operated and managed by the Empire State Building Company. Col. Henry Crown was Chairman and principal stockholder of the building during its inception, and the affairs of the building is looked after by Helmsley-Spear, Inc, .the managing agent of the building [Empire State Building Company LLC, 2004]

Key Personnel and Authority Relationships

The daily activities of the building are managed by the Vice President, Mr. Stephen A. Tole and his team. The management team has been built in a way to suite the professional requirements of the companies operating in the building. For example, the motto that drives the staff is to consider each tenant as a permanent guest and to look after their requirements in the most efficient manner. This is made possible by allocating separate responsibilities to department heads who overlook the activities of that department. For example, Thomas P. Sullivan is the assistant Vice President and takes care of leasing activities in the building. He is the director of leasing activities. Jesse E. Peterman is the director for security and H. Joseph Salama, P.E. is the director of operations. Lydia A. Ruth is the director of public relations and the special event coordinator. The management structure is well designed so that each and every important aspect of the managerial requirements is easily met. All the officers are very approachable and they have some of the best staff to take care of their directives and orders. It must be said to their credit that even though the Empire State Building is one of the most prestigious business landmarks in New York, there has been no complacency in service on the part of the building management and each and every requirement of the tenants have been met fully. This is indeed a great achievement considering the fact that management teams often tend to rest on their laurels when they have gained outstanding reputation in the market.

Much of the manpower and training activities are carried out by third party vendors in the complex. There are many different categories of jobs that need to be done by the tenants and many tenants use only the basic services of the society. Most of them entrust their job to third party vendors who get the jobs done for them. For example, secretarial services, janitorial works, internal decoration etc are taken care of by third party firms.

Project Activities, timing, and Cost

Many of the project activities that happen in the building are related to leasing, and taking care of the requirements of the clients who are already housed in the building. The initial involvement of men and machines that were used to build this colossal building is still awe inspiring

"The Empire State Building was officially born on May 1, 1931, when President Hoover pushed the button in Washington that first lit the tallest erection of the Great Depression - 37 million cubic feet (only two million of it rentable), seven miles of elevator shafts (sixty-three passenger elevators), more than 17 million feet of telephone and telegraph wires, fifty miles of pipes, and 10 million bricks" [Slonim, 1994]

Economic Justification: Tradeoffs and Alternatives

Even though the Empire State building is one of the best known destinations in the United Sates, the initial years of the building was replete with troubles and heavy financial loss. Even though the building was completed in 1930s, there were not many takers for the offices in the buildings because of the stock market crash and the wars. The Empire states building had to wait till the end of the world war in order to be populated to give financial succor to the investors. However, during these years the building survived with the tourist inflow. It may be said that the business logic of building such a huge building at such an enormous cost failed to live up as a short term business proposition. On the other hand, it must be said that the idea paid off rich dividends in the long run and has earned a reputation as one of the best known and most prestigious business centers in the world [Bruning, 2002]. The empire state building was unfortunately, at least in the initial years, more a crowd puller rather than a profitable business solution. The building attracted much tourists and people held it in great awe, but the place was not populated by companies in contradiction to the expectation of the investors. In fact, many could not understand why the building did not attract tenants in the initial years because it was positioned on a strategic position and had all the luxuries that could be offered by a business destination.

"They bet it would be the next great office building because it was located between Grand Central and Penn stations” [Pacelle, 2001]

Today the building is 99% populated even though many people believe that the building is old and outdated. It is to circumvent this criticism that the present management made a refurbishment plan of more that 70 million dollars that saw the installation of many modern amenities and customer service malls in the building [Real Estate Weekly, 2000]. With the events of September 11, security was an issue with the building but that has not deterred many companies form setting up their permanent offices in the building.

Today the economic costs that were involved in building the Empire States Building has been truly appreciated even though the costs involved in the actual construction was heavily discounted due to the depression and the lack of jobs. The empire state building stands today, as one of America’s everlasting architectural icon even though many other great buildings have been built close to it. The respect and awe that the empire state buildings command cannot be compared with any other building in the United States.