1946–2021
Georg Schreyögg, Professor of Management at the School of Business & Economics of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany, from
1994 until 2018, passed away on November 30, 2021 at the age of 75.
Georg is extremely well known in Europe and beyond for his contributions to the study of organization and leadership. He published
widely on topics such as organizational culture and learning, corporate governance, business ethics, dynamics capabilities,
routine dynamics, and organizational path dependence. His work appeared in journals like Organization Studies, Organization Science, Strategic Management Journal, and Academy of Management Review, among others.
In addition, he was the author and co-author of the two leading text books on management and organization, adopted as set
course books by several universities in German-speaking countries. His research was frequently sponsored by the German Research
Foundation (DFG), including the installation of a young scholar training program on organizational path dependence located
for nine years at Freie Universität’s School of Business & Economics (Pfadkolleg).
Georg’s research was honored, for example, by an honorary doctorate from the University of Graz in Austria in 2014, honorary
membership of the German Academic Association of Business Research (VHB) in 2017, and by the Academy of Management Review
Decade Award in 2019.
Georg was a true EGOSian right from the early days. Among other things, he convened numerous sub-
themes on different topics at EGOS Colloquia, was one
of the co-organizers of the 21st EGOS Colloquium held at Freie Universität in 2005. As a member of the EGOS Executive Board in the 1990s, he helped EGOS to
become a more formal organization. Georg was also heavily involved in the development of the EGOS journal Organization Studies. In recognition of this impact as an organizational scholar and practical organizer, he was appointed an EGOS Honorary Member in 2018.
Georg was an organization scholar at heart, who possessed the ability to sharpen arguments as well as the capacity to bring
together and associate disparate issues. It quickly became clear to all who had the opportunity to discuss with him that he
was always concerned with a truly deep understanding of the matter at hand. It was never just about a single phenomenon or
an isolated theory, but always about an overall hypothesis and thus, at the same time, intellectual approaches and ways of
reasoning. All of his research and teaching was, therefore, not only aimed at showing what is thought in detail, but also
how it is thought, and how and why a certain position could be adopted. Many of us experienced scientific debate with him
as a great enrichment for ourselves and our community.
The EGOS community will remember Georg Schreyögg as a brilliant, passionate and upright organizational scholar for whom vital
and spirited discourse was a pivotal aspect of academic life.
Prof. Dr. Jörg Sydow, Freie Universität Berlin
Prof. Dr. Jochen Koch, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt/Oder