AN EXPLORATORY STUDY ON SUPPLIER SOURCING, SUPPLIER RISK AND SUPPLIER RISK MANAGEMENT IN THE APPAREL EXPORT INDUSTRY IN SRI LANKA

‘Suppliers’ is not new topic to us. They have been in use ever since business started. With the evolution of the concept of supply chain the importance of suppliers has enhanced. Supplier sourcing and supplier risk has been two terms that goes hand in hand with suppliers. This research tries to identify the behaviour of supplier sourcing and supplier risk along with supplier risk management tools in the apparel export industry in Sri Lanka. Finally, the author tries to recommend the most appropriate strategy to adopt in the industry. This research has been adopted qualitative and exploratory approach. Its cross-sectional time frame is based on semi- structured interviews with apparel export manufacturers. During the research, it was focused on the behaviour of supplier sourcing and supplier risks in the apparel export industry in Sri Lanka. It was discovered, that as per the original research question one appropriate strategy has not been identified. But the author has identified the most appropriate strategies and given reasons as to how and why they are difficult to use commonly. This dissertation supports the industry to understand and develop their relationship with suppliers. Thus, with this research more studies can be done to enhance the knowledge and spread best practice across the industry