Joining SEI, a financial services provider, is an unusual experience for new hires. The new hire is given a map and sent down to a storeroom on the lower floor of the main building. There, the employee is issued a chair and desk, both on wheels, with a computer and phone on the desktop. The map shows where in the complex of nine barn-like buildings on the corporate campus in Oaks, Pennsylvania, the new hire will initially be located. The employee then rolls the desk through the buildings, into the oversized elevators designed for this purpose, and past hallways filled with a provocative (and sometimes shocking) collection of contemporary art. In a large, open room (filled with similar desks on wheels), the employee finds the spot on the map, nudges neighboring desks aside and pulls down a thick, red wire that snakes down from the ceiling, containing computer, phone, and electrical connections. Once this “python” is plugged in, the company computer recognizes the new employee and routes calls or visitors to the location.

The message from Day One is clear. This is an organization that is flexible, creative, and ready for constant transformation. The company is open and not hierarchical. The atmosphere and dress code are business casual. There are no corner offices—or offices at all. There is no need for an open-door policy because there are no doors. Employees are empowered. They can pick up their entire “office” and move to another location to join another team. On average, with the exception of a few anchored departments, they will relocate about twice a year. This may sound unsettling—but that is the point. In a world in which the business environment can change overnight, particularly in financial services, this design gives SEI the flexibility and the mind-set to transform itself just as quickly..................

Questions
1. Is SEI using an organic or mechanistic design? Provide support for your answer.
2. What kinds of technological interdependence are present at SEI?
3. What type of organization design would work best for SEI? Why?