Tradition, as revealed in family businesses, is both a compass and a canvas. It roots enterprises in their history while enabling them to innovate. This manifesto emerges from an understanding of tradition as a dynamic process—a constant interplay between past, present, and future.

1. Tradition as a foundation

Family businesses embody traditions inherited from their predecessors. These traditions are not static relics but active legacies that provide stability, shape identities, and anchor values. Tradition offers a sense of purpose, continuity, and unity.

2. Tradition as a process

Tradition is not merely what is inherited but what is enacted and reinterpreted. Family businesses must see tradition as a verb rather than a noun, that is, as a series of practices, narratives, and symbols redefined through continuous actions.

3. Dualities in tradition

The success of family businesses lies in their ability to navigate dualities:

• Repetition vs. Novelty: Preserving what works while daring to innovate.

• Preservation vs. Abandonment: Keeping what is meaningful while shedding what no longer serves.

• Being vs. Appearing: Authenticity over mere perception.

• Certainty vs. Possibility: Balancing confidence in traditions with openness to new possibilities.

4. The intergenerational stewardship

Each generation in a family business is a steward of its legacy. They inherit not just assets but values, narratives, and history that define the enterprise. Stewardship means honoring the past, adapting to the present, and perpetuating the family legacy for the future.

5. Innovation through tradition

Tradition is not the antithesis of innovation. Family businesses excel when they harness their heritage as a springboard for creativity, branding, and reinvention, which allows them to turn their distinct history into a competitive advantage.

6. Tradition is reflexive 

Tradition calls for mindfulness. Family businesses need to reflect on what traditions truly matter and how they fit with the world they live in. This reflexivity ensures that tradition a source of strength, not stagnation.

7. A commitment to community

Tradition in family businesses is intertwined with the broader cultural, social, and economic fabrics. Family businesses must embrace their role as stewards of communal values, to nurture not only their enterprises but the communities they inhabit.

Call to action

We, researchers, practitioners, and enthusiasts of tradition in family enterprise, commit to:

1. Cherishing the heritage while boldly embracing change.

2. Viewing tradition as a living process and a meaningful outcome.

3. Cultivating practices that honor the past and secure the future.

4. Acting as stewards of both the enterprises and the communities we serve.