Integrated procurement in international EPC projects
TANG Wenzhe1, LEI Zhen1, WANG Shuli2, XIE Kun3, ZHANG Qingzhen1
1. State Key Laboratory of Hydroscience and Engineering, Institution of Project Management and Construction Technology, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China;
2. Electric Power Planning and Engineering Institute, Beijing 100120, China;
3. Military Transportation University, Tianjin 300161, China
Abstract：The procurement of equipment and materials plays a critical role in international engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) project delivery. However, there is a lack of empirical research to clarify the causal mechanism between supply chain integration and procurement. A conceptual model of integrated procurement is developed based on supply chain integration. Questionnaire data is used to explore the effect of supply chain integration on procurement using a partial least squares-structural equation model (PLS-SEM). The results show that relational integration directly affects procurement performance, relational integration affects the procurement processes which helps improve the procurement performance, and relational integration facilitates information integration which further improves the procurement processes and procurement performance. The relational integration indirect effect on the procurement processes via information integration is larger than its direct effect on procurement processes and the relational integration direct effect on procurement performance is larger than its indirect effect on the procurement performance via information integration and procurement processes. These results provide guidance for EPC contractors choosing procurement strategies.
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2017, Vol. 57 
