Bubenik Partners

Our Top 10 Picks for Interesting Shifts in Czech Management Landscape in 2019

The most interesting shifts in the management landscape in the Czech Republic included changes at the helm of the largest insurance company, one of the leading banks, a global technology company, and also the advancement of Czech executives to critical positions in the multinational corporations’ home markets. At Bubenik Partners, we leveraged our research to compile the list of 10 changes that we consider worth noticing (see the full list below).

„Among changes that drew our attention last year were returns of Czech top managers from abroad and transfers within the top-level corporate management locally. Furthermore, important to mention were decisions of global corporations to entrust managers, who grew up here, with overseeing large markets at their home base,“ said Jan Bubeník, founder and managing partner of Bubenik Partners.

Ten most interesting shifts in Czech management landscape in 2019

(in alphabetical order)

• Jakub Dusílek – General Manager of UniCredit Bank Czech Republic and Slovakia (from 2016 to 2018 at UniCredit Bank Romania)
• Roman Juráš – General Manager of Česká pojišťovna (before CEO at Slovak insurance company Generali)
• Petr Kováč – Partner for Corporate Finance at consulting company EY (before Managing Director at C Corporate Finance)
• Miroslav Lukeš – Senior Vice President of Mastercard, New York (before General Manager at the same company for Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Austria)
• Renata Mrázová – Chief People Officer at Home Credit International (before Global Head of HR at NN Group)
• Marek Skysľak – Sales Director at Coca Cola HBC Czech Republic and Slovakia (before Managing Director at Procter & Gamble Czech Republic and Slovakia)
• Aleš Struminský – General Manager of Imperial Tobacco for Great Britain and Ireland (previous position: General Manager of Imperial Tobacco for the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, and Poland)
• Juraj Šedivý – CEO CETIN (during 2006-2009 CEO of Telefónica O2 Slovakia)
• Vít Vážan – General Manager of České radiokomunikace (before CFO at the same company)
• Ondřej Vlček – CEO Avast (before President of Consumer Division at the same company)

„We selected our ‚Top 10‘ managerial shifts in 2019 from the dozens of publicly announced changes that we have encountered during our ongoing market monitoring. The main criteria for selection were the size of the managed company, the extent of managerial responsibilities, the complexity of the industry and company governance, and, of course, the global context, i.e., how Czech managerial talent succeeded in the regional or global field,“ said Marek Petruš, Director of Research & Knowledge Management at Bubenik Partners.

A big theme: Family businesses look for new leaders to succeed founders

„Despite signs of a slowdown in some sectors, interest in recruiting managers for further business development and expansion prevailed last year. The market mood was also reflected in the interest in beefing up the leadership of M&A teams at the Big Four consulting firms and banks. Many companies in the so-called ‚old economy‘ continued to build up digital skills or to hire managers with the ability and experience to automate manufacturing, warehouse, and other processes,“ said Jan Bubeník.

A big theme has become the quest to find professional management to run family businesses built from the 1990s, whose founders have no heirs apparent to succeed them in their leadership positions.

„Successor positions offer a great opportunity for seasoned managers from global corporations. In originally family businesses, they can get enough space and freedom, be strongly interested in the outcome, and have the prospect of eventually becoming co-owners of managed companies,“ noted Jan Bubeník.

An example of a leadership succession story, with Bubenik Partners consultants engaged in the selection of the new CEO, is the Olomouc-based company Mapro, a supplier of technologies for plastic injection and production automation.

„At first, going through a costly and time-consuming selection process with an executive search company did not seem like the best idea. However, in the end, it turned out to be the right thing to do. We managed to find a skillful person from the region, whom we probably would not have the courage to approach. Thanks to cooperation with Bubenik Partners, we were able to attract a manager who has the appropriate professional background and is mature enough to take over the company as a new CEO,“ said Boris Lucký, co-founder of Mapro.