Professor Markus Reitzig
Strategic Organization Design
Building structures, aligning transformations
Strategic Organization Design
Building structures, aligning transformations
“I help organizations build structures that inspire people and enable innovation—with and despite AI.“
Markus Reitzig is Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Vienna. Originally trained as a natural scientist, he earned his doctorate in business economics and later focused on strategy and organization studies. His work explains how organizations can become flatter, more agile, and more human — with and despite AI.
He has taught at leading institutions such as London Business School, INSEAD, Copenhagen Business School, and LMU Munich, and has published in Harvard Business Review, MIT Sloan Management Review, and McKinsey Quarterly. Widely recognized for his scholarly work, he is one of the few academics to have spoken multiple times at TEDx events. With his book Get Better at Flatter and through numerous collaborations with companies, he takes research directly to where it has impact—into the C-suite.
2002
Copenhagen
Business School
2006
London
Business School
2012
University
Vienna
2014
INSEAD
(Visiting)
2017
Keio University
(Visiting)
Publications in
HBR, MIT SMR,
McKinsey Quarterly
2019: #1 Lifetime Ranking
A/A+ <50 in Austria
2022: Bill Nobles Fellowship
for Non‑Hierarchical Leadership Research
Markus Reitzig is regularly featured in leading media. Here you’ll find a selection of his interviews, podcasts, and video appearances.
Public Keynotes (German)
TV and Other Video Interviews
Podcast/Radio
Professor Markus Reitzig delivers keynotes that connect research and practice in a unique way. He translates complex economic issues into clear messages, links original insights from his work at the University of Vienna with current trends, and makes them immediately useful for leaders.
His talks are anything but academic finger exercises: they are precise, practical and tailored to the strategic challenges companies face today.
“Professor Reitzig can engage an international audience through his enthusiasm and clarity — he inspires people to think about new views and perspectives.”
“The way Markus shares his broad knowledge with practitioners creates real value for his audiences. I highly recommend him as a corporate speaker!”
Professor Markus Reitzig has worked closely for many years with leaders from business, politics, and public administration on organizational design, transformation, and innovation capability. His focus is where organizations seek an independent, academically grounded expert view – especially before or while they fundamentally change their organization, decision-making paths, and ways of working.
He combines academic depth with a practical, implementation-oriented approach. Companies value him as a sparring partner who reduces complexity, opens new perspectives, and develops actionable solutions.
Whether in a pure advisory role or in applied research projects, Markus Reitzig helps organizations design future-ready structures. International companies and institutions have frequently engaged him for projects in the past.
“I value Professor Reitzig as an innovative thinker and a clear communicator. His impulses have opened up completely new perspectives for us in many respects.”
„We worked with Prof. Markus Reitzig on two important projects over two to three years: ‘Future Capability Building’ and ‘Enhancing Organizational Innovation Capability’. His contributions have proved invaluable in getting the organization prepared to be ‘Future Ready’.“
„I found Markus to be a great facilitator in converting theory to practice; and very easy to work with.“
Get Better at Flatter by Markus Reitzig is becoming a go‑to guide for executives who want to harness flatter structures, master shorter product cycles, and make innovation the driving force.
The book combines decades of research with practical cases and gives leaders guidance in a world where traditional hierarchies are reaching their limits. Rather than buzzwords, it offers rigorous approaches for making organizations more agile, attractive, and future-ready.
„Zitat folgt…“
New insights from management research in 220 seconds brings the latest studies straight to your ears — short, concise, and explained in a way that managers can immediately interpret and use.
The podcast shows that Reitzig is not only a thought leader with his own research, but also a master at distilling others’ complex work—concise, entertaining, and always grounded in practice. His inclusion in the brand eins network underscores the format’s quality and relevance.
Markus works with executives, boards, and leadership teams on strategic organization design – especially when companies are designing new structures, changing existing organizations, or already seeing that a new model is not producing the intended effects.
A conversation is often most useful before plans are frozen and resources are committed – when people in the organization say things like: “we can’t get anything done,” “there are too many approvals,” “product launches take too long,” “we have managers managing managers,” “work is stuck in handovers and silos,” or “decisions are too far from customers and users.”
It can also be useful during a transformation – when new symptoms appear: “self-management is not for everyone,” “seasoned hires struggle and leave,” “everyone has veto rights,” “teams exist, but dependencies still block us,” “informal hierarchy takes over,” “coordination routines eat up speed,” or “AI-powered customer interaction is producing publicly visible mistakes.”
Depending on the situation, this may take the form of a confidential diagnostic conversation, a board or leadership workshop, or a keynote that creates a shared language for the organization.
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