This paper is a part of the application trend of the development of the grey systems theory. The purpose of this paper is to present the use of the GDM model in the diagnosis of the occurrence of crises in family businesses. The issue of the occurrence of conflicts and crises in family businesses is one of the most important and common in management science in Poland.
In the paper using the GDM model (in which the weights of the criteria were determined using the modified Thurstone method), the authors presented a way to diagnose the occurrence of crises in family businesses for a sample of Polish family businesses using, among others, a questionnaire-based survey.
As a result of the conducted research, it turned out that in eight surveyed businesses no symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed. In three businesses, the symptoms of conflicts were diagnosed, but they did not threaten their existence. In the case of four businesses, the symptoms of crisis that threaten their existence were diagnosed and immediate remedial action was recommended to them.
The authors are of the opinion that the presented research results may be a reason for the validity of using the GDM model in the diagnosis of crises in family businesses. At the same time, it is recommended to undertake further research on, inter alia, conflict fields in family businesses, or on the use of the modified Thurstone method as a part of determining the validity of decision-making criteria in GDM models.
