Consistency Definition - What it is, Meaning and Concept

The term consistency is used in different ways according to the context.The concept may refer to the coherence that exists between the elements or pieces that are part of a set.

A material is said to be consistent when solid or stable is displayed.For example: “If we want to give the dough more consistency, we must add another cup of flour” , “In the end it lacks consistency due to the high temperatures” , “With such amount of water , the concrete will never reach the necessary consistency ”.

The idea of consistency can also be used with reference to a symbolic solidity : "The team played with a lot of consistency and did not give the opponent opportunities" , "I trust that the consistency of the national economy will allow us to resist the turbulence caused by the global crisis" , "The relationship began to lose consistency when man, for work reasons , began to spend several days of the week in a city located more than two hundred kilometers from his house ”.

If we are located in the business environment, the image is expected that gives a company is consistent throughout the years to prevent the public from losing confidence in it.Maintaining consistency in the market is not easy, since it involves facing a series of obstacles and overcoming several challenges, such as be the following:

* Companies are usually made up of tens or hundreds of people, but more, and this makes it almost impossible to maintain a single line of thought and action.Given that there are so many opinions that are considered before making every decision , it is normal to notice stages in which they seem to have changed their objectives or even their principles;

* As if the number of people who participate in the decision-making of a company does not bring enough difficulty to the consistency of its image, the change of personnel is added, whether for natural reasons (retirement or death), resignations or dismissals.When a new president assumes, for example, he can modify the course of the entire entity if he has the support of the majority;

* Technological advances and new market trends exert considerable pressure on companies, and many of them do not choose the most appropriate strategies to adapt to such demands.This has led to numerous failures because of the distortion of their identity and their consequent loss of customer loyalty.

Consistency inspires us trust , and this happens both in the case of the people we deal with on a daily basis as well as government leaders and large companies.We need to believe in others and their promises to live in society: in the seriousness of public transport companies, in the Our employers' commitment to pay us every month, in the security guarantee provided by the police and in the principles that define the companies that manufacture our favorite products.If they change their ideals, we notice an inconsistency that generates fear.

In the field of research and statistics, there is talk of internal consistency to mention the correlation that exists between the different components of the same work or test .Suppose, in a survey, a person agrees with the following statements: "I love listening to music" and "When I travel I always listen to music" .Instead, he disagrees with the statement "Music bores me" .The correlation between the responses reveals that the survey has a good internal consistency.On the contrary, if someone affirmatively marks the expressions "I love listening to music" and "Music bores me" , the survey lacks internal consistency since the answers are contradictory.