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The dynamics of the physician knowledge system in the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente are explored. The framing and analysis use concepts from the knowledge management literature and network theory. The criticality of this issue to the establishment of sustainable healthcare relates to the lynchpin nature of embedding evidence-based knowledge in healthcare practice and the simultaneous challenge of combining this with clinical knowledge that derives from practice.

The case study is compiled from longitudinal interviews with over 40 physicians and other stakeholders and an examination of archival information including published articles generated by the learning system.

The socio-technical approach to building this learning system was critical given the expectations of physicians for autonomy in making clinical decisions with respect to their patients. This robust learning system builds on rich professional and organizational networks, is led by physicians, and builds on and extends the foundation of evidence relating to quality and value. The goals of the physician practice and a robust measurement and feedback system provide focus for the learning system.

Accelerating the incorporation of evidence-based practice and increasing the scope and reach of the learning system entails building physician networks, having a robust system for critically examining and extending evidence, and a clear linkage to valued outcomes.

This detailed examination of the dynamics of knowledge absorption extends understanding of the capacity of medical care systems to absorb evidence-based knowledge.

Mentoring is highly regarded as a career‐enhancing phenomenon necessary for any aspiring executive. Several debates within the literature have led to a lack of consistency regarding the definition of mentoring and a mentor, the functions of a mentor, and the various types of mentoring. It appears that much of the confusion stems from the relationship and association of mentoring with the concept of sponsoring. Within the majority of the literature regarding developmental relationships, sponsoring has been posited to be a sub‐function of mentoring. This paper presents two arguments for viewing and examining mentoring and sponsoring as distinctly different, non‐mutually exclusive, and possibly concurrent phenomena, as well as offers universal definitions for both terms. This delineation is offered to aid aspiring executives in their decision making process as to whether to select a mentor, a sponsor, or both.

In the history of business management thought, six idea families have predominated during the last eighty or so years — bureaucracy (Max Weber), scientific management (Frederick Winslow Taylor), classical management (Henri Fayol), human relations (Elton Mayo), neo‐human relations (Abraham Maslow). To these one can add the more recent contributions of different writers under the heading of guru theory. The first five idea families are well known, but the sixth requires explanation. Gury theory achieved prominence during the 1980s. While not yet featuring extensively in management textbooks it has received widespread attention in the financial and business press (Lorenz, 1986; Dixon, 1986; Clutterbuck and Crainer, 1988; Pierce and Newstrom, 1988; Heller, 1990). Guru theory consists of the diverse and unrelated writings of well‐known company chief executives such as Lee lacocca (Chrysler), Harold Geneen (ITT), John Harvey‐Jones (ICI) and John Sculley (Apple Computer); of management consultants like Tom Peters and Philip Crosby; and of business school academics like Michael Porter, Rosabeth Moss Kanter and Henry Mintzberg. Since their contributions are so heterogeneous, and as the writings draw so much of their authority from the individual authors themselves, the adopted label is felt to be appropriate.

Purpose – This chapter argues that health care is best conceptualized as a complex adaptive system. Sustainable health care depends on harnessing the complexity of the system by building aligned purpose, flexible pathways to connect people, knowledge and resources, and the capacity for self-organization.

Design/methodology/approach – The case study of the Southern California Region of Kaiser Permanente is based on three years of interviews and archival data collection examining the system's transformational change that began in 2004 and has been aimed at building a sustainable health care system with the guiding principles of value and prevention. The case focuses primarily on the medical care delivery system designed by the Southern California Permanente Medical Group, the capabilities that have been built into the system to continually improve the quality of care and the outcomes of the system, and the results that have been achieved.

Findings – During the period from 2004 to 2011, the region improved significantly in slowing cost acceleration by significantly improving medical care. The implementation of an electronic medical records system and its integration with other clinical information technology systems have enabled: (1) truly integrated, well defined, and easily navigated care delivery systems that are based on evidence; (2) upstream focus on prevention, disease control, patient education, and population health; and (3) management accountability and organizational improvement systems based on transparency of data and feedback. Physician leadership and partnering with the region's administrative and hospital leadership have been critical change enablers.

Originality/value – Embracing the complexity of the system has led to the crafting of pathways and linkages that enable patients to move through the system to flexibly and efficiently connect to the knowledge and resources required to optimize their health. This requires continual self-organization based on well-defined roles and connections. Previous health care improvement approaches have stressed initiatives and organizational changes that may further fragment the health care system.

The purpose of this paper is to address the research gap on Lebanese female managers and to examine female managers' perceptions of their organizations in relation to women's career progression.

The research was quantitative in nature. A survey questionnaire was used to collect data from 450 female managers. Measures included personal and demographic characteristics, organizational culture, organizational practices, organizational networks, mentoring and role modeling, tokenism, and the usage of wasta.

Descriptive statistics and analysis of variance were used to explain the results. The results reveal that female managers perceive their career progression to be affected by organizational culture, practices, and networks, while mentoring and tokenism were shown to be less critical. In addition, the women in this sample perceived wasta to be a powerful determinant.

The findings contribute to a wider appreciation of the implicit barriers to women's career development and retention, will help organizations engage with the diversity agenda in this region and provide a better understanding of how these companies and their members can make progress, will help inform managerial interventions to make managers better able to make the most of the issues faced, and will help organizations make a much more concerted effort to manage junior female managers through helping them accelerate in their progression and development.

The paper contributes to the limited literature on women in management in Lebanon as well as the Middle Eastern region in general.

Ulla Andin received her MD in 2007 at the Faculty of Medicine at Lund University, in the Department of Geriatric Psychiatry. The title of her dissertation was Vascular Dementia, Classification and Clinical Correlates. She is a specialist in geriatrics and has been working as a senior physician at Skaraborg Hospital Group since 2008. Her focus is on elderly patients with multiple illness. Earlier in her career, she worked as a senior physician at USÖ (Universitetssjukhuset i Örebro), where she focused on patients with dementia. In addition, she has served as a supervisor for young physicians.

Examines the role played by business school academics in promoting management ideas through their teaching. Defines the concept of a popular management idea, and explains how the author identified bureaucracy, classical management, scientific management, human relations, neo‐human relations and guru theory, to be the most popular management idea families of the twentieth century. Reviews the existing literature on factors which may influence academics to select certain management ideas for presentation rather than others. Offers hypotheses based on the author′s own experiences as a business academic. Reports the findings of a small postal survey which explored academics′ reasons for choosing the topics to teach and compares the findings with the hypotheses presented earlier. Concludes by discussing the implications of this and further research, and considers the extent to which business academics now tend to follow management practice, rather than lead it. Finally, makes recommendations for future research in this field and suggests appropriate research methods to be used.