Managerial skills, national culture linked to the performance of Moroccan companies

Case of the Casablanca-Settat region

Abstract

In an environment where competition is becoming increasingly fierce, characterized by the acceleration of change, the increase in the number of multinational firms and marked globalization, it cannot be denied that performance via competitiveness has not only become a necessity. But must be integrated into the process of strategic objectives of organizations (Lioville and Bayad 1995).

Therefore, in order to achieve these objectives, the company, whatever its size, must be competitive to survive in a globalized market where erratic growth requires companies to choose a proactive orientation in the management of its activities (Seringhaus, 1993).

Competitiveness is therefore an important lever for achieving good organizational performance while standing out from the competition. To do this, SME managers must develop more skills such as: creativity, versatility, dynamism and culture (Filion, 1997).

Competencies reflect knowledge (resulting from training), know-how (fruit of professional experience) and savoir-vivre (expression of the potential synergy of individuals when they work together). The manager's profile is therefore determined by a synergy of his skills and his national culture, because they bring together the personality traits and typologies of managerial skills of the latter which have an impact on their performance (Lorrain et al., 1998; Bayad et al., 2006).

The study aims to'analyze the determinants of the performance of SMEs through a survey carried out among 30 Moroccan SMEs in the province of Casablanca-Settat with various activities. The results of this study show that the performance of Moroccan SMEs is clearly influenced by the skills of the manager (explained by training, experience and the entrepreneurial model), and the national culture of the manager (explained by education, values related to work, religious beliefs, beliefs in luck and merit, liberal beliefs, political, values ​​related to individualism and those related to the degree of femininity in a society).