Enhancing Design Management by Partnering in Delivery of International EPC Projects: Evidence from Chinese Construction Companies

AbstractThe engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) approach has been increasingly adopted in competitive international markets, in which design management is critical to project performances. Existing studies have embraced a partnering strategy to integrate stakeholders’ diverse expertise and need for better solutions to design. This study has quantitatively investigated the cause-effect relationships among partnering, design management, and project outcomes by developing and testing a conceptual model. With the support of data collected from Chinese construction companies as EPC contractors, this study reveals that contractors’ design management should focus on four factors: planning and executing, resolving disputes, optimizing design, and promoting techniques . Path analysis confirms that partnering can not only significantly facilitate design management, thereby improving project outcomes, but also directly promote project performances and create long-term strategic benefits. Canonical correlation...

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