Ranking of company performance indicators for managerial decision making purposes with application of the Delphi method

The objective of the paper is to analyse the usefulness of various qualitative and quantitative indicators of economic condition of companies for managerial decision-making purposes. The research target group were medium- and high level executives of small and medium enterprises with Polish and foreign capital, operating locally and internationally. The research methodology included: (i) Delphi questionnaire for quantitative data gathering; (ii) two-stage direct semi-structured interviews for initial reduction of number of indexes and to provide qualitative context for gathered data; (iii) ABC method (Pareto-Lorenz diagram) for presentation and interpretation of findings. In result a set of universal indicators has been determined, counting such indexes as: (i) flexibility, (ii) level of income; (iii) number of clients; (iv) survival ratio. Practical implication is a faster and more accurate choice of indexes enhancing the speed and efficiency of managerial decision-making. Further research should be directed towards the elaboration of a multicriteria decision-making model, which would allow to incorporate various types of indicators of company’s development, including the qualitative and quantitative ones. Research limitations come mainly from limited representativeness of chosen enterprises (they could be more specifically narrowed) and respondents. Presented research contributes to the increase of applicability of scientific tools for enhancement of managerial decision-making. Added value comes from addressing the need of managers for ease and rapidity of use of scientific decision-making methods.