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Abstract
The architect for the Mauritius Auditorium project sat in his office at Larsen & Toubro's headquarters in Chennai, India, pondering the phone call he had just received from the vice president, Mr. K.P. Raghavan. The polyvalent hall of the conference center was about to be used to host its first rock concert in February 2005, but during a rehearsal the musicians complained about the sound quality being not up to expectations in the hall. Sound quality had not been an issue during the U.N. convention, but the louder music was causing problems, and a representative from Chuttur & Partners Limited, the company which managed the conference center, had called Larsen & Toubro wanting to know how to solve the problem. There had been no specific sound requirements when the center was conceived, and Larsen & Toubro was under no legal obligation to solve the acoustic problem. Therefore, a decision had to be made as to whether the company would work to solve the acoustic problem, and if so, how the problem could be solved.
Overview
K.P. Raghavan, Vice President of the Buildings and Factories Sector, Engineering Construction and Contracts Division, of Larsen & Toubro Limited (L&T) in Chennai, India, was invited to meet the Indian Ambassador to Mauritius, who told him that there was an opportunity for L&T to carry out a major project to build a new international convention center on the island of Mauritius. The conference center had to be ready in time for a United Nations meeting to review the implementation of the program of action for the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States that was to be held in Port-Louis, Mauritius, from the 10th to the14th of January, 2005. The budget for the project was Rs. 80 crores ($17.6 million)1, and from conception to completion it was expected to take no more than 15 months. L&T agreed to undertake the project and the center was completed in time for the conference. Mr. Raghavan heaved a sigh of relief and relaxed as he listened to the video of the Secretary General of the U.N., Mr. Kofi Annan, delivering the opening address to the assembled delegates in the polyvalent hall in January 2005. This hall was originally intended to...