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Audio Interview

Delayering hierarchies: how to transform expectations and attract high performing employees

Published on May 28, 2026   40 min

Other Talks in the Playlist: Interviews with Business Leaders and Scholars

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Interviewer: Today, I'm interviewing Prof. Markus Reitzig, professor for strategic management at the University of Vienna, Austria on the implications of his article, "People follow structure: How less hierarchy changes the workforce," written with Kathrin Heiss and published in MIT Sloan Review on the 29th of May 2025. Prof. Reitzig is the author of Get better at Flatter: A guide to shaping and leading organizations with less hierarchy, published by Palgrave Macmillan in January 2022. Prof. Reitzig, thank you very much for sparing the time for this interview. May I start with two or three questions? First, in your article, you advised that the chief human resources officer should be part of the team planning and managing hierarchy change programs alongside CEOs, CFOs, and COOs. Would this require any change in their preparation for the role of CHRO and are there new competencies that need to be acquired throughout the HR structure? Second, I noted that the word culture does not appear in your article. Is not the likely success or failure of a hierarchy change program very much influenced by the existence or creation of a suitably welcoming corporate culture?

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Delayering hierarchies: how to transform expectations and attract high performing employees

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