In the present study, we conduct a discourse analysis on a set of longitudinal observations of government venture capitalists' decisions to identify how gender stereotypes are socially constructed and activated when assessing entrepreneurs' potential in the financial distribution of venture support. The present study finds that female entrepreneurs risk receiving significantly less venture capital, which is caused by the language and rhetoric used that relates to gender differences when funding decisions are made. We consider and discuss the implications of our results for related research about distributing venture capital and the social constructions of female and male entrepreneurs.

Purpose -The purpose of this paper is to increase the transparency of the value-creation chain in the stock market. It aims to: conceptualize the value-added through the relational capital, inductively develop models on how values are created, and discuss the values created for the analyst firm, the clients and investors in the stock market in general. Design/methodology/approach -The paper is based on a case study of sell-side analysts at a big Swedish investment bank and their work with real life situations of changes in recommendations. Findings -The findings of the case study indicate that analysts, through their relational capital, access competitive advantages needed for remaining on a highly competitive market. They get access to value-added information and knowledge and also business for the firm. This helps them to fulfill the three roles played, i.e. as information intermediaries, knowledge builders and businessmen. However, the analysts' dependencies, due to their relational capital and the analysts' conflicting roles, result in ambiguous or even biased information. The values added to clients differ between prioritized clients who receive value-added information through the relational capital with the analysts and non-prioritized clients with limited, or no access, to the analysts' services. Originality/value -Value created through relational capital within organizations has been intensively studied within the area of intellectual capital. However, the sell-side analysts' value-creation chain linked to their relational capital with company representatives and clients, considered in the present study, has been neglected.

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Collaborations in innovation work between competitors have become a common practice in the information and communication technology sector (ICT), and substantial investments are made in such collaborations. Significant rationales for these collaborations include the high expectations placed on rapid and front-edge technology development and business exploitation. However, there is often a failure to reach the expected outcomes of such collaborations. This may be explained not only by the challenges and obstacles in technology development but also by the social relations within the collaborations. The purpose of this study is to explore the role of social exchange in the outcomes of early-stage innovation collaborations. More specifically, we explore the social facilitators of exchange and how such facilitators may influence collaboration outcomes. Social exchange theory is used for this purpose. This longitudinal study is based on a 3-year collaboration project for innovation using qualitative methods (29 interviews, observations of 7 project meetings). Three phases of social exchange in the collaboration are empirically identified: the dating phase, brainstorming phase, and decision phase. Three social facilitators of social exchange within these phases are conceptualized: trust, commitment, and congruence. Further, direct contacts are conceptualized as a social accelerator fueling these social facilitators. This study advances understanding of social facilitators in social exchange and their significance with regard to success/ failure outcomes. Risks of lock-in situations in collaborations for innovation are outlined in a knowledge exchange paradox.

This study shows how the repertory grid methodology can be used to understand entrepreneurs' cognitive construction of business models and evidence of entrepreneurs' differential cognition of high-profit and low-profit business models. We show that entrepreneurs are more cognitively complex and more nuanced in constructing high-profit business models than low-profit business models. Furthermore, although they are perceived as meaningful, low-profit business models are characterized by relatively less clear cognitive constructions. This study suggests that the repertory grid technique may be useful for future research and entrepreneurship practice to understand the entrepreneurial cognition of business models.

Managers' use of auditors in decision processes is well known in the accounting literature, but little is known about owner-managers in innovative firms and their acquisition of accounting knowledge through direct contacts with external auditors. We conducted a multiple embedded study of exploratory character based on 21 interviews with owner-managers and external auditors connected to six innovative firms. We show that owner-managers in innovative firms apply informal management control in early phases of the innovation process and thus also rely heavily on external auditors for such purposes. However, management's acquisition of accounting knowledge may contribute over time to the development of a more formalised control system as their competence increases. This study suggests that a competence-based view may be useful for understanding the role of accounting and external auditors in innovative firms' management control systems.Keywords: accounting knowledge; external auditor; innovative firm; strategic action.Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Blomkvist, M., Johansson, J. and Malmström, M. (2016) 'Accounting knowledge in innovative firms -direct contacts with external auditors for strategic actions', Int.

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This paper aims to enhance the knowledge of business models in the mobile service sector by exploring their key mechanisms and underlying components. By combining the business model literature with empirical interview-based case studies of 69 business models in the mobile service sector, it illustrates the findings of a longitudinal case study of a business model design attached to an iPhone application. A model for managing business model design in an open innovation context of mobile services is proposed. The model extends earlier frameworks by adding contingency aspects and the view of core resources for addressing logics in the dynamic sector. Findings highlight the importance of ventures in the mobile service sector continually managing the business model design in order to support the sustainability of their business models