The COVID-19 pandemic will have an enormous impact on peoples lives and livelihoods that much is clear. The path to recovery is far less so, though it is evident that the crisis has significantly impeded many organizations ability to execute capital projects, and may continue to do so for some time. The availability of labour and materials has decreased worldwide, while more and more balance sheets and cashflows are becoming capital-distressed. Physical distancing and travel restrictions have made it difficult for sectors and countries to get workers safely into plants and construction sites, and vital supplies into global production networks. Government-enforced public-health measures, for example, have disrupted the operations of fabrication yards and construction sites across Asia and Europe.

In China, the biggest refinery operator state-controlled, Sinopec plans to raise crude throughputs and capital spending in 2021, as it outlines an ambition to become China's top hydrogen producer in next five years. Sinopec's profit fell by 42.4% to 33.1bn yuan ($5.1bn) in 2020 as revenue dropped by 28.8% to Yn2.1 trillion ($325bn). Sinopec's capital expenditure (capex) budget has been set at Yn167.2bn in 2021, up by 23.8pc from its actual spending in 2020. Spending on its upstream sector and LNG terminal expansions are projected at Yn66.8bn, with another Yn48.6bn for its Zhenhai, Gulei and Hainan petrochemical facilities and Yn20.1bn assigned to the refining sector, including restructuring projects at its Yangzi and Anqing refineries and an expansion at Zhenhai.

Required:

You have been appointed as new Management Accountant of Sinopecs project. Discuss four (4) key levers that companies can pull to fundamentally improve large-capex-project management as suggested by Boston Consulting Group (BCG).