ABSTRACT
The main problem this chapter deals with is how to objectively compare company performance in the world of big data. As many different quantitative approaches exist which are used as tools in the decision-making process, a question is made on which ones should be utilized in performance management. This chapter deals with a relatively new and unknown methodology, within the Grey Systems Analysis, developed in the 1980s. This methodology expands some known models and methods with the inclusion of the notion of “grey” data, i.e. data that contains uncertainty, fuzziness, errors, and incompleteness. Thus, the majority of this chapter is empirically focused, as empirical data on companies that constitute the S&P 500 as a representative sample is observed. Companies are compared one to another based on financial ratios in the decision-making process within the business conduction. As previous research often mixes companies from different sectors, the Grey approach in this chapter will take into consideration that companies can be comparable if their performance is measured within the same sector or industry. As this methodology is flexible, the comparison of every company can be made simultaneously, and a robust ranking system can be obtained. The Grey Relational Analysis is a basic approach to constructing the ranking system when many alternatives are compared when many criteria are taken into consideration at once. Based on the results of the analysis, future recommendations for research and empirical applications are given.
