This paper describes an empirical investigation of the application of benchmarking to cooperative enterprises in Wales to determine whether it was technically feasible, at what cost, and with what results. This entailed close sustained fieldwork with actual cooperatives, which was achieved by investigating the two largest farmer-controlled enterprises (FCEs) in Wales — Clynderwen and Cardiganshire Farmers Ltd, and Wynnstay and Clwyd Farmers Plc, who also collaborated in subsequent management appraisal and remedial action. The paper concludes that benchmarking is strategically feasible, that it has a favourable impact on the perceptions and attitudes of staff and members of participating cooperatives, and that it yields workable priorities and management recommendations, which can be implemented. Wider adoption of the technique by cooperatives is therefore recommended as a viable survival strategy — an alternative to the recent preference for abandonment of cooperative status. This is of particular significance for the marketing/entrepreneurship interface of FCEs in Wales.

The research reported in this paper was undertaken to investigate the importance of teleworking as an innovative work practice in small business enterprises (SBEs) in South Wales. In order to accomplish this the research uses a qualitative research approach which employed an online focus group and in-depth interviews through questionnaires and interviews with various organizations, employees and employers and key policy makers in Wales to construct a framework to provide greater understanding of this phenomenon. The research concludes that teleworking is regarded to be important for the advancement of SBEs in Wales. It is the first study to investigate and evaluate the practice of teleworking and how its innovative application framework affects SBEs directly in Wales to help businesses succeed.

There has been a tendency for government organizations to become competitive due to instability in modern economies. Accordingly, Knowledge Management (KM) has been rapidly growing in the past decade as a source of influence on organisational development practices. In the past decade research approaches largely failed to show the importance of KM initiatives in creating synergy with other initiatives to an extent that would lead towards organizational competitiveness. This paper investigates whether KM holistically influences organisational learning, specifically in the context of the government sector. In order to understand the relationships between KM and organisational learning identified in the literature and increasingly used in practice, a quantitative survey approach was undertaken using a series of researcher-developed scales. Based on the literature review Organisational Learning (OL) was identified to be important in relation to KM, and a conceptual framework was designed to test the concept of the holistic influence of KM on organisational learning. Some 625 valid responses were collected from top and middle management from 54 government organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain, and the model was statistically tested according to the research hypotheses by regression analysis then Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results reveal strong and significant correlations amongst organisational development practices. Even though the holistic influence of the model could not be confirmed, findings show positive KM influence on organisational development practices, thus KM is an essential factor for government organisations. As well as illustrating KM as an important source of influence, this study establishes a new direction that helps to integrate all governmental organisations' initiatives in relevance to organisation development practice leading to better competitiveness. The research makes a novel contribution since it increases the probability of a holistic approach model that brings support for decision makers to enhance overall government organizations' competitiveness. The scale developed for the model tested can be generalised and used as a self assessment tool for organisational practices in KM. The work sets a baseline for KM practices in M. Buheji et al. 658the Government of Bahrain and similar GCC Governments that can act as a reference for researchers on KM, learning and competitiveness in emerging economies. The model needs further investigation in future research to explore the missing variables to make it "fit for purpose". This concept of a holistic model needs to be further subjected to empirical investigation to explore its viability. The major limitation of this research is because it has addressed only the government sector in one country.

This paper considers strategic green issues of teleworking in terms of the environment, transport, location, office space and resource use for modern organisations and business sectors and formulates a conceptual model of the processes involved. Teleworking technologies are variously implemented for green computing initiatives and many advantages include lower greenhouse gas emissions related to travel, greater worker satisfaction and, as a result of lower overhead office costs, increased profit margins. The paper initially investigates the appropriateness of a working definition of teleworking with regard to green computing and explores the benefits, and barriers, of teleworking in a green computing environment. Theoretical frameworks and models of teleworking are considered and a conceptual model of the contribution of teleworking to green computing is formulated. The application of the model is considered in terms of teleworking concepts, the organisational environment and driving forces. It is the intention of the paper to identify, and articulate, those teleworking concepts that will be useful to academicians, scientists, business entrepreneurs, practitioners, managers and policy makers, and to indicate future directions for research scholars and students with similar interests.

This study investigates whether Knowledge Management (KM) holistically influences organisational innovation in the government sector. To determine the relationships between KM and organisational innovation, identified in the literature and used in practice, a quantitative survey approach was undertaken using a series of researcher-developed scales. From the literature Organisational Innovation (OI) was identified to be important in relation to KM, and a conceptual framework was designed to test the concept of the holistic influence of KM on organisational innovation. A total of 625 valid responses were collected from top and middle management from 54 government organizations in the Kingdom of Bahrain. The model was statistically tested according to the research hypotheses by regression analysis, then Structural Equation Modelling (SEM). The results reveal strong and significant correlations amongst organisational development practices. Although the holistic influence of the model could not be confirmed, findings show a positive KM influence on organisational development practices, thus KM is an essential factor for government organisations. The model needs further investigation to explore the missing variables to make it 'fit for purpose', and the concept of a holistic model needs to be further subjected to empirical investigation to explore its viability.