What Is Continuity?

Abstract

This article examines and expands the concept of continuity and asserts that family businesses and consultants retain a unidimensional definition of continuity in which success is attained only when family and business remain together. It suggests that this thinking is stale—muddied by an idealized version of the family business—and argues that continuity should be defined as the preservation of one or more essential, unique core elements that in turn implicate a set of tradeoffs or elements that may be sacrificed. Continuity approached in this way, where the pursuit of any dimension will have both gains and losses, will inevitably enrich both the client and consultant.