Role of HRM practices in promoting innovation within Moroccan SMEs

Abstract

In a context of increasingly demanding intense competition, innovation has become an imperative necessity to ensure the growth and sustainability of enterprises, especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). To achieve this goal, various HRM practices such as diverse profile recruitment, skill development and training, compensation and recognition, as well as communication and collaboration, advocated by several researchers (Morris and Jones, 1993; Hayton, 2005; Schmelter et al., 2010; Pichault and Picq, 2013; Ferrary, 2013; Bargues and Bouchard, 2013), are considered effective levers to stimulate innovation within SMEs. The primary aim of this research is to confirm the influence of HRM practices on improving the innovation capacity of SMEs, while evaluating the level of innovation among the surveyed Moroccan SMEs and the HRM practices they have implemented. Indeed, we conducted a quantitative study involving 115 Moroccan SMEs.

The findings of this study highlight relatively modest levels of innovation and the adoption of HRM practices within the examined SMEs. They statistically demonstrate a correlation between these practices and the promotion of innovation within these enterprises.

The findings of the study reveal a relatively limited adoption of HRM practices within the examined SMEs, as well as a moderately moderate level of innovation. The statistical analysis of the data highlights the positive influence of all considered HRM practices, particularly in the areas of recruitment, compensation, training, and communication, on the degree of innovation within these companies. Furthermore, these results emphasize that the positive impact of a coherent and complementary set of HRM practices, referred to as the "mix-social" is more significant than the impact of individual HRM practices.

Keywords : Innovation, HRM practices, moroccan SMEs.

Classification JEL : O30, J24.

Paper type : Empirical Research.