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PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to use a social capital and learning organisation theoretical framework to clarify two issues: how female entrepreneurs manage interactions with employees and whether they learn about new business opportunities from workplace networks. The qualitative findings demonstrated that female entrepreneurs used a relational approach to manage their employees which social capital theory (SCT) predicts should have promoted a workplace environment‐based on trust and reciprocity of ideas, information and resources.Design/methodology/approachData were obtained from semi‐structured phone and person‐to‐person interviews. The qualitative questions sought to solicit information about how female entrepreneurs managed (particularly their staff) and whether they used workplace processes to be innovative and learn about new venture opportunities from within their firms.FindingsThe paper provides support to previous research that argues female entrepreneurs traditionally use a relational approach to managing their businesses. However, in contrast to previous literature about SCT, this paper found that only about a quarter of the female entrepreneurs used a social capital approach to learn about potential venture opportunities from their staff. Hence, the findings suggest that these female entrepreneurs did not engage in active learning from employees.Research limitations/implicationsThis study's findings have a number of limitations. Firstly, the sampling process could have caused bias in the data collection and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be compromised. Moreover, the sample size is limited; hence further research is necessary across numerous countries to improve the generalisability of the exploratory study.Practical implicationsThe implication of these findings is that the majority of female entrepreneurs probably do not use workplace employee networks to provide new venture opportunities. Governments may need to consider strategies for supporting female entrepreneurs to capture new venture opportunities.Originality/valuePrevious research suggests that small to medium‐sized enterprises do not necessarily perceive networks outside of the firm as a source of new ideas and the findings from this study suggest than only a quarter of the female entrepreneurs attempted to learn from inside the firm.

PurposeThis paper uses a social capital theoretical framework to examine how the relational dimension of business networks affects the networking activities of female entrepreneurs. In particular, the study examines the role of trust on women's networking behaviour and the part played by government business development officers in supporting women entrepreneur's opportunity recognition behaviour.Design/methodology/approachThe research used mixed methods to gather and analyse data. A survey instrument was used to gather quantitative data and qualitative data was gathered from interviews and written responses to open‐ended questions included in the survey.FindingsThe quantitative findings suggest firstly that approximately 20 per cent of the reason why women entrepreneurs belong to formal business networks is to search for business opportunities; however, their experience of trusting significantly affects their perception of the potential benefits of networking activities. Moreover, government development officers appear not to positively affect women entrepreneur's trusting behaviour.Research limitations/implicationsThe sampling process could have caused bias in the data collection and therefore the generalisability of the findings may be compromised. This is because the sample came from a state with the most start‐ups and therefore it is likely that these women are more entrepreneurial than normal. In addition, there may be bias in the type of women entrepreneur likely to have responded to the survey. It seems likely that the women entrepreneurs that would respond to this questionnaire are apt to be more entrepreneurial in their behaviour of recognising new opportunities, thereby biasing the sample used. Finally, another limitation of this study is common methods bias in relation to the data collected using self‐report questionnaire.Practical implicationsThe findings have implications for government because these findings suggest that they have wrongly assumed that entrepreneurs will behave in "politically constructed business network" the same way as they behave in social networks where trust levels develop over time. This may be the reason why trust was such an important variable in affecting these women entrepreneurs' networking behaviour. The findings suggest that if women entrepreneurs are to be supported to grow, the government should focus its scarce resources on building trust within these formal business networks, so that women can build the relational trust context needed to share information likely to lead to good business opportunities.Originality/valueThe paper provides information on the role of trust on women's networking behaviour.

This study first reports findings about what factors affect the job satisfaction of one group of public sector employees and second, uses social identity theory to explain the results. The results indicated that working with fellow employees enhances job satisfaction. In contrast, dealing with the clientele (possibly without appropriate training) and organisational management polices compromise the job satisfaction of early career Australian police officers. These findings challenge existing managerialist beliefs that suggest that significant attempts to reform organisational processes within the public sector organisations of a number of Western democracies have improved the effectiveness of employees. These reforms have changed the organisational context within which policing takes place and consequently, the work practices of police officers have changed. Some of these changes have reduced the satisfaction of employees. The implications of the findings are that when employees are dissatisfied with a number of the working conditions, it is likely that their workplace effectiveness may be jeopardised and in turn, the efficiency and effectiveness of scarce public resources may also be compromised.