The role of procurement in performance deviation recovery in large EPC projects

Within engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) companies operating large engineering projects by means of their supply chains, procurement plays a key role in project execution. During project execution, deviations from desired performance in terms of time, cost and quality take place. Procurement can contribute considerably to such deviations as well as to reduce or possibly eliminate them. By means of a multiple case study of three best-in-class EPC companies, the article shows that companies use different ways, namely strategy modifications, process modifications and combined modifications, to deal with project deviations.