Managing the knowledge environment: a case study from healthcare

An organization's future is viable to the degree it can create, obtain, and leverage its intellectual capital in an effort to manage knowledge for sustained, competitive advantage in the market place. Failure to do so can spell disaster. Case in point: Due to a festering crisis between his strategic intent and the organization's operational capacity to support it, in May 2000, the Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System (SRHS) board of directors voted for its chief executive officer (CEO) to resign. His resignation signaled the need for new learning, in addition to more effective management and communication practices in improving the identifying and codifying of knowledge and then facilitating the sharing of it organization-wide. This article focuses on delineating the process principles in managing a supportive environment necessary for the sharing of knowledge to spark creative thinking in devising innovative solutions that the hospital used in adapting to its market.