Abstract: Enhancing business process management in hydropower engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) projects will help contractors achieve project objectives and improve their competence in the construction market. A conceptual model for hydropower EPC projects is developed to show partnering relationships among stakeholders, business process management, and project performance. Questionnaires, interviews, and case studies are used to test the model. Results demonstrate that the stakeholders have common goals; and the contractors can consider the stakeholders’ responsibilities, rights and interests and allocate project resources properly. And a statistically significant path of ‘partnering with stakeholders→business process management→project performance’ is revealed. Thus, business process management plays a full mediating role, and partnering promotes project performance through improving the level of business process management.

Key words: partnering, engineering-procurement-construction (EPC), business process management, project performance