Companies' quality characteristics vs their performance: A grey relational analysis – evidence from Romania

This paper attempts to identify the strength of the relation between the quality characteristics of companies that are activating in an economy and their performance.

In the quality characteristics sphere were included almost all the elements related to company's behaviour on a market, in an uncertain environment and in the relations developed with stockholders. And what theory can better shape this relation than grey systems theory, a theory of uncertainty and of continual changes? At first, all of these qualitative characteristics that are reflecting company's activity have been divided into six categories for a better reality reflection. A performance indicator was also depicted by taking into consideration each company's managerial objectives.

By applying grey relational analysis (GRA) in a case of eight Romanian firms, the results were convincing: not only that these characteristics determine firm's evolution, but, by knowing them and acting properly on them, firm's extreme situations (such as insolvency or bankruptcy) can be avoided.

The method exposed in the paper can be used for any company for evaluating the linkage between its main characteristics and the way its performance can evolve.

The paper succeeds in identifying the linkage between the characteristics of a company at a certain point and its performance by using one of the newest developed theories: grey systems theory.