‘Management Lessons from Gustave Eiffel’

After facing a rejection on his idea and lots of criticism during the second effort also, this project manager still completed his project so successfully that today it is the single most visited paid monument in the world. No guess work needed – the project - ‘Eiffel Tower’ and the name of the project manager - ‘Gustave Eiffel’ (Eiffel).

The Beginning

Designers - Emile Nouguier and Maurice Koechlin, the two chief engineers in Eiffel's company developed an unprecedented design of a very tall tower in 1984. This was a bold idea for Eiffel’s company, which had been a master, engineering the bridge supports and even for 53 years old Eiffel who by now was France's master builder in metal. Even though Eiffel had been building railway bridges and a host of other metal structures in France and abroad for 30 years, building a 300 meter tower presented a different aspect since the bridge supports were short and intended to bear a horizontal load rather than a vertical one.

Eiffel & Company, his engineering firm, undertook research on the proposed tower's structure. The tallest structures at that time were half the height of the proposed tower and they were built taking a really long time. Also, these structures were made with stones. Eiffel, however, was determinant to build his iron tower and decided to work ahead on the idea. On September 18, 1884 Eiffel registered a patent ‘for a new configuration allowing the construction of metal supports and pylons capable of exceeding a height of 300 metres’.

Eiffel planned to build the tower in Barcelona and presented the idea to the city of Barcelona to build the tower for the Universal Exposition (World Fair) of 1888. His idea for the bid was a 300 meter tower made of iron which would be the tallest structure in the world. However, his idea was rejected as too off-beat, strange and expensive construction. Later Eiffel submitted the proposal to the city of Paris for the Universal Exposition of 1889 and this time approval was given for building his design as the entrance arch for the exposition. The intended purpose of the tower was to build it as a tourist attraction for the exhibition and restaurants were also planned for the first and second levels.

In January 1887, Eiffel signed a contract with the French government and the City of Paris. However, the real challenge for Eiffel had just begun.

The Roadblocks

The estimated cost of the project was about $1.6 million, less than one-fifth of which was covered by the French government's subsidy.

Apart from financial issues, Eiffel had to face fierce resistance from the artistic and architectural community in Paris. The community of artists protested through open letters in the newspapers, calling Eiffel’s project as ‘useless and monstrous’, ‘tragic street lamp’, ‘incomplete, confused and deformed’, ‘high and skinny pyramid of iron ladders’ accusing him of spoiling the beauty of the city of Paris.  The architects accused him of paying attention to aesthetics without regard to engineering.

Eiffel had serious technical challenges to overcome to implement his design. Due to the height of the tower, high winds could cause structural damage or even collapse the structure. The tower being really high and an open structure, the risk of accidents on the site was also high for the construction workers. Getting the tourists up the curved columns of the tower through elevators represented another challenge.

Having received the final approval at the end of 1886, Eiffel began to work on the project only in January, 1887 but he had to follow the tight schedule since the entire project had to be completed in time for the opening of the exhibition on May 6, 1889.

Following the criticism, the engineering challenges of the design, and short span of time, completing the proposed project was clearly a huge challenge for Eiffel.

Eiffel’s Response

Entrepreneur Eiffel agreed to contribute $1.3 million in return of receiving all revenues generated by the tower during the exposition and for 20 years afterward, recovering his investment and a profit-if the tower was a success. As per the contract, after 20 years’ time, full ownership would revert to the City of Paris and they could also demolish the structure.  
Answering to the criticism by artists and architects in an interview to a leading newspaper, Eiffel assured that the tower would give a great impression of strength and beauty. He asserted that engineering practicality and aesthetics were not mutually exclusive and that the tower would be a handsome attraction that would enhance the beauty of Paris, rather than detract from it.

To overcome the technical challenges, Eiffel in the descriptive book ‘The 300 Meter Tower’ gave, precise indications concerning relational use of the materials at the different levels in keeping with the simplified calculations. The shape of the tower was also determined by mathematical calculation involving wind resistance.

As shown in the picture, the tower basically composes of two elements: 

(i) a sturdy bar stool,  standing on 4 main pillars, bonded and extended with a much lighter batter at the smaller level constituting the second floor, 
(ii) a tower firmly attached atop.

Eiffel’s detailed note served as a base to build the tower. To complete the project in time within the given budget, Eiffel divided the project into phases.

To avoid accidents on the site, Eiffel took safety precautions. He used movable stagings, guard-rails and safety screens. Due to his safety measures, the construction site was safe for the hundreds of people to work. To make the elevators work through the odd angles of the tower, Eiffel divided the task vertically - separate elevators to the first, second, and third levels, and horizontally - between the four columns: North, South, East, and West. The problem of carrying tourists to the top of the tower was solved with two counterbalancing cabins and a vertical piston to provide lift. The final phase of the project - the painting of the tower did not present any technical problems other than the huge areas and the many surfaces and angles that had to be painted.

With Eiffel's hands-on management techniques, the entire tower was completed by March 31, 1889 (exactly in 2 years, 2 months and 5 days) five weeks ahead of the May 6 deadline. With fifty engineers, 5300 blueprints, 100 ironworkers and 121 workers on the construction site, the project was completed with an overall cost of $1.51 million - under the determined budget.

First of its kind, built entirely of iron and completed in an amazingly short period of time, once the tower was complete, the presence of masterpiece itself dissolved the criticism. The project brought Eiffel the nickname ‘magician of iron.’ The tower became the focal point during the 1889 World Fair.

The tower was constructed as a temporary structure with a 20-year permit and was to be dismantled by 1909. However, people were more than used to seeing it standing tall. As a result, we still see it intact in the City of Paris. 
 
From 2 million visitors the first year, to more than 200 million visitors by 2008 (since its construction), the tower quickly became a tourist attraction, now welcoming about 7 million visitors every year.

Eiffel’s actions during the construction of the tower provide useful inferences for today’s managers.

Lessons from Eiffel

- Entrepreneurial lesson – Capitalizing on the idea; Overcoming criticism; building flagship product or service that people get talking about
- Planning – With 5300 blueprints and his detailed note, Eiffel’s planning laid a base for the project
- Risk management – With no precedent structures to refer, he executed the idea of the world’s tallest monument overcoming all the risk factors
- Problem-solving – Overcoming technical challenges 
-Managing stakeholders – Published response to the community of artists and architects 
- Quality management – A successful design, still intact
- Team work – Bringing along the designers, engineers and workers to get the work done 
- Cost-effectiveness – Completion of the project within the determined budget
- Time management – Completion of the project within the given tight schedule by dividing it into the phases

End Note

For any given organization or project, managers are an integral part. Having different responsibilities, they fulfill many different roles. They are decision-makers, problem solvers, goal setters, planners, and strategists.