Abstract:
Information Sharing (IS) refers to the extern to which critical and proprictary
information is communicated to one’s supply chain partner. It is one o f the most
important Supply Chain Management (SCM.) practices for achicving exce Henee in
or.ganizational management. For evalusting IS. the measurement instrument
developed by Li et al., (2005) was used. This model defines seven dimensions o f IS
which covers information flow in both directions: from inside and to outside o f the.
organization. The level o f IS o f each dimension was measured by five point Likert
Scale. The main objectives o f the study were to analyze the impact o f important
contextual factors on Supply Chain Management practices o f manufacturing firms
and to find out the areas to be improved for better levels o f SCM practices. The
data were collected from a random sample o f 86 firms in three industries: Apparel,
Food and Printing. The contextual factors considered were: Industry, Size o f the
Firm, Length o f the SC, Channel Structure and the Level o f Uncertainty in the
Demand. Analysis o f Variance (ANOVA), Pairwise Mean Comparison and Rank
Correlation Anaiysis were the major tools used in the analysis. The study discovered
that the Industry, Size o f the firm and SC structure affect significantly on information
sharing practice o f manufacturing firms in Sri Lanka. The attributes o f IS to be
improved in the firms o f different industries and sizeifwere also identified by the
study.
