A system, Ubik, is described that builds, executes, and maintains distributed computer organizations. A computer organization is built using three organizational components: structure, action, and power. The interaction among these three components mirrors some of the complex interactions in the external organization being modeled. The structure of an organization is modeled with semantic nets built of linked‐together objects. The action of an organization is represented by an object called a configurator, and initiated by message passing. The power of an organization is maintained by objects, called sponsors, which delegate processing power to other objects. Active messages are used to build specialized objects called constructors, questers, and tapeworms. They build, query, monitor, and constrain applications running within an organization.