Family-owned businesses | CEE perspectives - 2
Part 2 - CULTURE
Family-owned businesses are the backbone of many economies around the world—and the CEE region is noexception, writes Marko Mlakar, Managing Partner, Amrop Adria.
They combine entrepreneurial ambition with generational values, long-term thinking with day-to-day resilience. Yet, amid strategy, succession, andstructure, there is one element that quietly drives performance and longevity—culture.
Culture in a family business is more than company values printed on the wall. It is the unspoken code of behavior, the shared understanding of purpose, the way decisions are made and relationships nurtured. It reflects not only business priorities, but family legacy, beliefs, and the way both have evolved over time. Into what world will an executive step upon joining one of the region’s family-owned firms? Unlike the culture in publicly traded or purely corporate organizations, that of an FOB is deeply personal. It is often shaped by the founder’s mindset, reinforced by tradition, and sustained across generations through storytelling, shared rituals, and a common identity. This can be an incredible asset, binding employees together, inspiring loyalty, and providing clarity during change or crisis.
Yet culture in FOBs can present unique challenges. How do you evolve a legacy culture without losing its soul? How do you integrate non-family talent into a system shaped by bloodlines and history? And how do you maintain openness and professionalism while preserving emotional bonds?
Matej Mrak, Partner, Amrop Slovenia, sets the context: “In CEE, the entrepreneurial spirit in FOBs is being reignited after decades of suppression. Many founders are first-generation entrepreneurs, driven by a hunger to reclaim what was once lost. These businesses are now vibrant spaces where tradition meets innovation, and generations collaborate with renewed purpose”
“I have spent a significant part of my career in various international FOBs in different industries,” says Željko Šundov, Principal, Amrop Croatia. “All took care of their people and sought to spread the family feeling throughout the business with their sense of care and attention. They placed greater emphasis on long-term development, growth, investments, than on profit. Yes, profit was important—the reporting systems were at the level of large corporations—but long-term growth mattered more.”
“The ‘owner-attitude’ described in this article resonates deeply with the entrepreneurial spirit seen across CEE family-owned businesses,” observes Milos Djurkovic, Managing Partner, Amrop Serbia. “In a region marked by rapid transformation and resilience, many blend pragmatism with a profound commitment to employees and stakeholders. Their long-term vision and personal investment often result in a culture of loyalty and care—key differentiators from typical corporates. This cultural DNA not only anchors them through economic turbulence but also positions them as stewards of sustainable growth in emerging markets.”
Mircea Tiplea, Partner, Amrop Romania, advises newcomers to an FOB: “It is crucial to start making a positive contribution early in the game. Winning for the business, the family and founder is far more important than promoting personal gain or glory. For ambitious professionals, this cultural discernment is an art—one that many first-timers learn the hard way. If winning creates culture, the wrong approach can be perceived as a cultural attack.”
CEE Participants
Defining Culture
Culture always reflects “the collective wisdom that came from the lessons people learn as they adapt and survive together through time.” 1 Culture is a product of a firm’s past: a default that determines “what we do when we think no-one is looking.” Far from being the soft underbelly of the business, culture is its headstone: a point of value for stakeholders, customers and investors.
7 cultural facets emerge from the Amrop investigation
1 - Deep Determination
In any business, important decisions deserve debate and reflection. In a family-owned firm, the dialogue is particularly profound. “Our family-owned clients talk more. They take longer to make a decision. It’s about lower risk, longer planning. They’re testing, testing, testing,” said one Amrop Partner. And this is a canny culture: “Family businesses are very shrewd,” says another. “They want to learn from each other.” Once a decision is made, implementation tends to be swift and disciplined. Care is nonetheless taken in investment and spending conservative: the FOB exercises diligent risk management. Even if the money may no longer be exclusively in family hands beyond a certain lifecycle stage, the ‘skin in the game’ attitude lingers.
2 - Tight-knit Discretion
FOBs tend to keep a low public profile and expect the same from their leaders and partners. “Families don’t appreciate it if their C-suite is too extrovert and too much about the ‘me myself and I’ storyline,” says an Amrop Partner. “It’s part of their value system to be more discrete. They want the firm, not the individual, to shine.” FOBs are also slow to trust outsiders. Before engaging, its leaders will seek counsel from other family-owned businesses, close advisors, or senior executives with a long tenure. “Family businesses love people they can trust,” says another Amrop Partner. “Culture and relationships are more important than in a typical corporate.” The roots run deep — and endure.
3 - To the Point
Many FOBs lean towards more straightforward structures. “I see different behavior in family-owned businesses,” says one Amrop Partner. “Typically the organizations are simpler. Even if they’re sizable.” Another confirms: “It’s a different organization, a different culture. The family business is a vertical.” Where families retain the majority stake, they ultimately decide, no matter how compelling the counter argument. “A family decides not to go ahead with something. And you might be convinced it was the right thing to do. Sometimes it’s difficult to say what’s better, but you have to accept that the family will decide now.” Another Amrop Partner puts it more strongly still: “owner trumps all.”
4 - Two-way Mirror
From the bridge of their ship, the owners of an established FOB have navigated many storms and have learned to see beyond short-term turbulence. These legacy firms have far-reaching collective memories and vision. “They have a history and can withstand longer periods of turmoil or bad weather,” says this Amrop Partner. “Overall, they will be facing everything that every other business is facing. But with this longer-term perspective and typically with the strongest set of values to guide them.” As seen in our last article (‘Lifecycle’) long termism is easier as long as a firm is free of the shareholder dictates that arrive with listed status. “They have a much longer perspective on value creation. If they buy a company, they don’t have to sell it in five years. They can keep it for as long as they want.”
5 - An Entrepreneurial Attitude
Solution-focus, optimism and collaboration are the name of the game. Pragmatism is prized. “You have to understand, appreciate and play a positive role rather than continually judging or criticizing what is not going well,” says one Amrop Partner. All-important freedom from shareholders (whilst it lasts) gives room for maneuver. The ‘owner attitude’ is appreciated, even from executives who don’t share the owner’s genes (as long as s/he doesn’t confuse it with ‘ownership’). Work-life boundaries are often blurred. “Family-owned businesses are running all the time. At Sunday lunch, when they play golf, in the office. You never stop. It’s a way of life,” says an Amrop Partner. The entrepreneurial attitude must also be sustained by subsequent generations. If a successor has not had early exposure to the business, the lost time is difficult to recuperate, says another Amrop Partner, “when they don’t have that sense of responsibility and ownership.”
6 - Stable Homogeneity
As the FOB ship progresses, its engineering steers it through the waves. The purpose remains the beacon. “They are consistent: everything is tried and tested,” says this Amrop Partner. Traditionally, FOBs tended to appoint people with similar values and culture. “And they will not go out of their way to find someone who’s going to be difficult because they’re different.” Culture challengers are tolerated rather than actively sought. Still, FOBs are mirroring a general mobilization towards diversity. And incremental change is welcomed, says another Amrop colleague: “They want to see business continuity without problems. Maturity.” This Amrop Partner confirms: “They’re less prone to change with the small tides.” This stability is also reflected at the top of the organization - CEO churn is comparatively low. “Generally speaking, the whole organization is more stable,” says this Amrop Partner.
7 - Expectant Caring
Family leaders are passionate about their purpose and generous towards close stakeholders. Relationships transcend the transactional (an attitude they also expect from executives). “Family businesses, if they trust you, will probably pay you more than the corporate environment,” says this Amrop Partner (his statement is to an extent supported by recent research).2 Several Amrop Partners confirm that FOB employees can expect support through crises, such as the 2008 financial crash or Covid-19. “Generally speaking, a good family business takes care of its people and they really try to survive, not to sacrifice their employees but to support them,” says one. Other cultural facets, such as stability, longevity and trusted relationships, lead to a certain failure tolerance: “In a family-owned business, mistakes are differently managed. This is related to the owner’s deep involvement in decisions.”
Sources and further reading
1 Denison, D., Hooijberg, R., Lane, L., Lief, C. (2012). Leading Culture Change in Global Organizations: Aligning Culture and Strategy 1st Edition. Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, San Francisco.
2 Schindler, B., Schroeder, S., Family Business Executive Pay, Insights from the 2023-2024 Compensation Survey, Family Business Magazine.
In the next article, we’ll explore the FOB’s quest for its ‘Leaders For What’s Next: the world of executive search.
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