Hello — welcome
I’m Julian Jonathan (JJ) Markus, a Ph.D. candidate at WU Vienna University of Economics and Business. I am someone who has been lucky enough to have found a way of combining my biggest passions and interests into a career. Formally, I am an researcher, educator, and public speaker in the domain of organizational design and human behavior. Practically this translates to me spending my days talking to people, reading, thinking, writing, and teaching.
Motivation of work
The central question that motivates my work is: how we can improve organizations for the sake of employees and, consequently, drive organizational success.
Theoretically, I study problems through lenses of organizational design and organizational behavior at the organizational, group, and individual levels. My portfolio revolves primarily around the phenomenon of the managerial hierarchy studying how the organizations we create shape the behavior of people within them — and vice versa.
Beyond my core research, I am involved in a range of projects focused on problems for workers in organizations, studying decentralization, feedback, leadership, and research impact.
My doctoral thesis
My doctoral research asks how the managerial hierarchy can be distributed and what the implications are for workers.
Committee: Phillip C. Nell, Christopher Lettl, Rebecca Hewett
Title: Distributing Managerial Hierarchy: Exploring Drivers, Mechanisms, and Consequences of Self-Managed Organizational Designs
Projects:
- Negative outcomes of high worker autonomy
- Founder ideologies for self-management
- Strategic exploration and exploitation by workers in self-managing organizations
- The relationship between performance management and hierarchies
Status: The thesis proposal is currently being reviewed and will be made available in due course.
Practice impact & partnerships
I am passionate about ensuring that research generates not only academic contributions but also practical impact. As co-founder of People & Self-Managing Organizations (PASMO) and a team member of Headquarters in Austria (HiA), I work closely with organizations and practitioners to co-create knowledge and develop insights that support new ways of working.
If you are an organization experimenting with decentralization, self-management or related topics, feel free to reach out — I’m always interested in connecting research with real design challenges.
Teaching
I teach courses on organizational design and organizational behavior at the bachelor’s and master’s levels, aiming to equip future leaders with tools to design more effective and humane workplaces.
Background
Previously, I was a visiting researcher at Rotterdam School of Management and INSEAD I also worked as a research assistant at Rotterdam School of Management, where I earned the MSc in Human Resource Management (graduating with distinction) and received the HRM Thesis of the Year Award (2022).
Before academia, I completed the International Management double degree at Avans UAS and NEOMA Business School (Reims). From 2011 to 2020 I worked in industry in roles ranging from frontline employee to middle manager and HR specialist, gaining international experience in the Netherlands, Malta, Bulgaria, France, and Belgium