Research

Publications: Papers Under Revision

Markus, J.J., Hewett, R., Leroy, H., Gangé, M., Van de Broeck, A.: “Negative Consequences of Worker Autonomy”. Under review: International Journal of Management Reviews

_Worker autonomy has benefits for individuals, organizations, and society. Yet, there is substantial empirical evidence that high autonomy may sometimes have negative consequences. We review this body of work to highlight five narratives for the negative consequences of autonomy: it can be a burden, it can allow unethical or immoral actions, it can require trade-offs, autonomy and control can be paradoxical, and autonomy is not universally experienced in the same way. We suggest that alternative lenses of autonomy – as independence or volition – change the mechanisms that explain these narratives. Together, this has implications for how we understand the outcomes related of worker autonomy. Our resulting theoretical model suggests that different strategies should be employed to enable autonomy to maximize the positive outcomes while mitigating the negative. We suggest that, because there is not a shared understanding of what we mean when we say autonomy, future research should make assumptions about what autonomy is and how it functions explicit. _

Minnaar, J., Markus, J.J.; “Market, equality, community: A relational models view on self-managing organizations” 2nd R&R: Journal of Organization Design

_ This paper explores how self-managing organizations (SMOs) organize without the traditional managerial hierarchy and how they consequently solve the universal problems of organizing: task division, task allocation, information provision, and reward provision. Drawing on Relational Models Theory (RMT), we conduct a multi-case study of exemplar SMOs spanning industries and geographies, identifying divergent relational logics, namely market pricing, equality matching, and communal sharing, which replace the managerial hierarchy (authority ranking). While all cases reject managerial hierarchy, each relies on a different relational logic and shows systematic variation in the identified solutions to the universal problems of organizing: radically decentralized structures and decentralized frameworks (task division), autonomous roles and self-distribution practices (task allocation), coordination mechanisms and decision-making protocols (information provision), and base salary structures and profit-sharing mechanisms (reward provision). These forms are not mutually exclusive but tend to stabilize around one dominant relational logic that serves as the organization’s backbone. This comparative analysis demonstrates that SMOs are not a single form of organizing but a family of forms that are designed and function in distinct ways. Through our rich, comparative, and empirically grounded analysis of exemplar SMOs, we advance understanding of how different relational logics provide alternative foundations for organizational designs in the absence of managerial hierarchy._

Lam. H. W., Ren. D., Darouei. M. Markus, J.J.: “Cold but Competent: The Paradoxical Effects of Solitude Expression on Social Evaluation at Work”. Under review: Personnel Psychology

_With recent changes in work forms, working alone remotely is increasingly common. Whereas a few may experience loneliness or difficulty in maintaining work-life balance, some employees may experience solitude, i.e., enjoying working alone. However, these solitude seekers may suffer from unintended interpersonal costs. Integrating signaling theory and the social evaluation literature, we hypothesized and tested the paradoxical effects of solitude expression with four pre-registered experiments. Specifically, we argue that individuals who express solitude would be judged as more competent, but less warm. The social evaluations would then mediate the relationship between solitude expression and work outcomes, including perceived productivity, leadership potential, and hireability of the target employee. In Study 1 and 2, we manipulated high and low solitude preferences with personality profiles among Dutch (N = 269) and British (N = 550) employees respectively. In Study 3 and 4, we explored the impact of target gender with two additional manipulations. In Study 3, we presented audio recordings as manipulations to a group of Dutch employees (N = 224). Finally in Study 4 that has a within-subject design, participants (N = 226) rated 12 profiles with different solitude preference and gender. Results generally supported our hypotheses that solitude-seeking employees would be rated as cold but competent, and hence, more productive and more hireable. We also found that gender stereotypes seemed less relevant in our research contexts, with solitude-preferring female targets considered to be better leaders than solitude-preferring male targets. We discuss theoretical and practical implications in connecting with the growing literatures on disconnected at work and work digitization. _

Publications: Working Papers

Markus, J.J., Nell, P.C.: “Designing Radically Decentralized Organizations”. Preparing for submission. Target: Strategic Management Journal

Markus, J.J., Nell.: “How Management Hierarchies Shape Social Comparison Mechanisms”. Preparing for submission. Target: Strategic Management Journal

Hewett, R., Cai, M., Markus, J.J., Meier-Barthold M., & Agnihotri, M.: “Democratizing the Workplace though Self-Management: High-involvement Work Systems and Worker Participation”. Preparing for submission. Target: Academy of Management Journal

Markus, J.J., Hewett, R., Appels, M.: “Leader Ideologies, Ownership and Governance Structures in Self-Managing Organizations”. Manuscript development. Target: Administrative Science Quarterly

Markus, J.J.: “Deconstructing Management: Exploring the Implications of Self-managed Models of Organizing”. Manuscript development. Target: Journal of Management Studies

Markus, J.J., Hastings, B.J.: “Crafting Research Impact” Manuscript development. Target: Journal of Management Studies Says

Minnaar, J., Markus, J.J.; “Unlearning hierarchy: a relational dynamics view to the distribution of authority” Manuscript development. Target: Administrative Science Quarterly

Markus, J.J., Lee, M. Y., Hewett, R.: “Socializing into Self-Management”. Research design.

Hewett, R., Markus, J.J.: “Democratic Spillover of Self-management” Research design.

Merten, S., Bouwens, A., Markus, J.J., Hewett, R.: “Feedback Cultures in Decentralized Organizations”. Research design.

Publications: Book Chapters & Conference Proceedings

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2025): “Designing Radically Decentralized Organizations”. Poster presentation, Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark

Markus, J.J., Hewett, R., Leroy, H., Gangé, M., & Van den Broeck, A. (2025): “Independence and Volition: Understanding and Managing the Negative Consequences of Autonomy at Work”. Poster presentation, Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2025, Copenhagen, Denmark

Markus, J.J., Hewett, R., Appels, M. (2025): “Leader Ideologies, Ownership and Governance Structures in Self-Managing Organizations”. Paper presentation, Rutgers–Oxford EO Research Conference, Oxford, UK

Markus, J.J., & Schouten, J. (2025): “Liberator or Dictator: Artificial Intelligence in Radical Decentralization”. Paper presentation, WU Vienna Xperiment Meeting, Vienna, Austria

Markus, J.J., & Schouten, J. (2025): “Liberator or Dictator: Artificial Intelligence in Radical Decentralization”. Paper presentation, WU Vienna Engage.EU Think Tank, Vienna, Austria

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2024): “Designing Radically Decentralized Organizations”. Paper presentation, Strategic Management Society Conference 2024, Istanbul, Turkey

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2024): “Designing Radically Decentralized Organizations”. PDW on QCA Methods, Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024, Chicago, USA

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2024): “Designing Radically Decentralized Organizations”. PDW on Research in Organizational Design, Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024, Chicago, USA

Lam, H., Darouei, M., Ren, D., & Markus, J.J. (2024): “Cold but Competent: The Paradoxical Effects of Solitude Expression on Social Reputation in Remote Work”. Paper presentation, Academy of Management Annual Meeting 2024, Chicago, USA

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2024): “Design Systems: A Configurational Analysis of Systematizing Organizational Design”. PDW, Academy of Management Journal, Vienna, Austria

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2024): “Legitimately Decentralized Authority: A Configurational Investigation”. Paper presentation, 40th EGOS Colloquium 2024, Milan, Italy

Hewett, R., Cai, M., Markus, J.J., Fedeles, L., Agnihotri, M., Meier-Barthold, M., & Mehta, C. (2024): “Democratizing the Workplace through Self-Management: High-Involvement Work Systems and Worker Participation”. Paper presentation, Academy of Management HR Division International Conference, Dunedin, New Zealand

Hewett, R., Cai, M., Markus, J.J., Fedeles, L., Agnihotri, M., Meier-Barthold, M., & Mehta, C. (2024): “Democratizing the Workplace through Self-Management: High-Involvement Work Systems and Worker Participation”. Paper presentation, DiO 2024: Designing the Organizations of Tomorrow, St. Gallen, Switzerland

Sehner, M., Schmitt, J., Cerar, J., Markus, J. J., & Nell, P. C. (2024). Die Digitalisierung und ihr Effekt auf Unternehmenszentralen in Österreich: Österreichs Standortattraktivität und das Design von Unternehmenszentralen in der digitalen Zukunft. In Österreich und seine Headquarters Economy: Ist Österreich ein attraktiver Standort für Unternehmenszentralen? (pp. 155-175). Wiesbaden: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden.

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2023): “Design Systems: A Configurational Analysis of Systematizing Organizational Design”. Paper presentation, 11th International QCA Workshop, Antwerp, Belgium

Markus, J.J., & Nell, P.C. (2023): “Design Systems: A Configurational Analysis of Systematizing Organizational Design”. Paper presentation, Organizational Design Community Annual Conference 2023, online

Markus, J.J., Hewett, R., Leroy, H., Van den Broeck, A., & Gangé, M. (2023): “Autonomy and Control”. PDW, Academy of Management Annals Conference, Brussels, Belgium

Lam, H., Darouei, M., Ren, D., & Markus, J.J. (2022): “Cold but Competent: The Paradoxical Effects of Solitude Expression on Social Reputation in Remote Work”. Paper presentation, European Association of Work and Organizational Psychology Conference 2022, Katowice, Poland