Fostering A Legacy
Axel Johnson Inc.’s chairman, Axel Mörner, is poised to leverage a family ethos defined by responsibility, respect, and a healthy dose of hustle.
From his family farm outside Stockholm, wearing a casual denim shirt while speaking on becoming chairman of Axel Johnson Inc., Axel Mörner’s unassuming personality is readily apparent. Considering the company culture, his approachable nature is telling: Ask most any AJI employee what most defines their workplace, and a common thread inevitably arises, including a sense of family and access to company leaders.
Mörner’s perspective? “There’s also a belief we can make a difference with our businesses which is apparent in our core values of operating with integrity, investing in our employees, embracing diversity and respecting our planet.”
Whether treating wastewater at Parkson, creating Brazeway refrigerator parts, or providing state of the art robotics for drug discovery via HighRes, AJI’s innovation has daily impact. The company has made a difference, indeed.
Ilustración de Veronica Grech
The original Axel Johnson, who founded the company in 1873, was “young, ambitious, and curious,” according to Mörner. Yet when the traditional patriarchy evolved and his mother, Antonia, became the company’s fourth-generation leader, a new culture emerged. After forgoing plans to become a psychiatrist, Antonia joined in 1975, and her acute sense of human nature has helped anchor AJI’s longevity and remarkable success.
“Today’s culture,” Mörner explains, “is formed around Antonia and Göran Ennerfelt—my parents. They started off with not a lot of resources in 1981, fulfilled by the idea that you can make a difference through business and also build value over time. From a culture perspective, my parents have been the pivot.”
This “pivot” has since become a family legacy—one Mörner intends to pay forward, an ethos also instilled in many AJI employees. “There’s a deep sense of meaning [at AJI], and that spreads,” he says. “Striving to be the best possible owner, leader, and employer of our businesses makes a big difference, for all involved. Part of our culture is that we take care of each other.”
A case in point—and adding to its unique recipe for success—is the company’s ongoing “fikas.” The Swedish coffee break allows employees to let their guard down and talk about most anything.
“During fikas, coworkers and colleagues talk about the highs and lows of life,” Mörner explains. “It’s an informal way to connect. The purpose is not to talk politics. It’s to strengthen the social fabric of the workplace. It’s also when you get wonderful ideas—when you have that bond and level of engagement, you are fired up to be a stronger team.”
“There’s no doubt the pandemic was a worrisome fika topic during 2020, yet AJI has navigated many crises throughout its century-long operations; the family atmosphere is integral to weathering figurative and literal storms. This most recent challenge has allowed AJI to emerge even stronger, bolstering its longevity.”
—
Axel Mörner
Chairman, Axel Johnson Inc.
Core Value: Investing in Our Employees
And while the company culture in Sweden and U.S. differs, Mörner’s American counterparts have perpetuated his family’s top-down approach to investing in people. Just as integral is a sense of trust and autonomy. “As owners, you choose leaders,” he adds. “And you spend a lot of time supporting them. But it’s also important to give leaders the necessary space and freedom to do what they need to do.”
The result? U.S. companies where brilliant minds flourish. “I love the energy in the U.S.,” he says. “It’s a country of entrepreneurship and commerce—the notion that if you put your mind to it, you can create meaningful businesses.”
Core Value: Respecting Our Planet and Embracing Diversity
And how would Mörner personally identify success? Ingenuity. Curiosity. Ambition. What’s more, “to be responsible, good human beings is very important to us,” he says. Drawing strength from diversity in people persectives and ideas as well as leading our industries in environmentally responsible product, processes and facilities management. Those last sentiments, according to AJI employees, are the real game changers. In addition to his mother, he credits his sister and predecessor, Alexandra Mörner, in perpetuating the company’s pervasive value system.
Ilustración de Veronica Grech
Core Value: Operating with Integrity: Competing aggressively but fairly
One additional critical component to conducting meaningful business, Mörner emphasizes, is a healthy respect for besting the field. “You need competition,” he explains. “We’re competing for investments—we want to grow, and become bigger. To compete is a very fundamental trait.”
And though drive is important, AJI has continually proven that business is much more than maximizing a profit. It’s about doing right by people. As a result, long-term profitability flourishes, and this business approach fosters sustainability.
Within the AJI family, professional ambition is see-sawed with deep personal relationships and the freedom for employees to further education and make ample time for their own families. “You have to have time for the ones you love,” stresses Mörner. “In the end, it’s not what you accumulate, but who you have around you.”
So as he looks toward the future in his current role, when asked what he’s most proud of—a milestone achievement—Mörner’s answer is simple, yet prescient: “Exactly this very moment. There’s a sense of pride I feel, to be part of businesses that really transform people’s lives.”
Our Leadership
Scan QR code to watch video
2019 Annual Review
More Articles
AJI Partners to Provide Clean Water in Uganda
Axel Johnson and Drink Local Drink Tap are working towards providing students and teachers at Namatala and Museveni Primary Schools with clean water!
Read More
Brazeway: Lights, Camera, Action
From set design to starring roles, the team at Brazeway has become intertwined with the legacy of Michigan’s oldest theater.
Read More
The Parkson Story
What happens when you take a rag-tag group working out of a converted gas station in South Florida that simply won’t take no for an answer?
Read More“There’s always a way to take the next step.”
—
Omar Gadalla,
Director of Sustainability & Corporate Communications
Explore
Our Businesses
Culture
About
© Axel Johnson, Inc. All rights reserved.