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Emergent by Design: Performance and Transformation at Infosys Technologies

Smeal College of Business, Pennsylvania State University, 430 Business Building, University Park, Pennsylvania 16802-3603
Lee Kong Chian School of Business, Singapore Management University, 50 Stamford Road, Singapore 178899
Department of Accounting and IS, Eli Broad College of Business, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan 48824
rgarud{at}psu.edu
arunkumar{at}smu.edu.sg
sambamurthy{at}bus.msu.edu

We explore how organizations may be designed to transform themselves even as they continue to perform seamlessly on a day-to-day basis. Our inquiry frame recognizes that organizational designs comprise several elements—people, technologies, processes, and governance. Our study of an exemplary organization, Infosys Technologies, yields two insights. At Infosys, each design element is seeded with generative properties. As these design elements interact, reinforcing and balancing one another, an overall organizational platform of resources, capabilities, and options emerges. The company draws on this emergent platform to perform in real time even as it transforms itself to adapt to changing environments.

Key Words: design; emergence; transformation; organizational platform

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