Moroccan family businesses: Specific attributes, logics of action and organizational learning dynamics

Abstract

In spite of the significant role of family firms in most countries’ economies, researchers have paid a limited attention to organizational learning in these companies. In this chapter, we will focus on Moroccan family businesses trying to answer a central research question that is: “How do the specific attributes of Moroccan family businesses impact their individual and organizational learning dynamics?” To have a deep understanding of how these interactions occur, we conducted 30 semi-structured interviews in four Moroccan family firms. The results of the case studies show that every Moroccan family business is characterized by a dominant logic of action that can be either based on spirituality and emotions or on rationality and professional relationships. These logics are the result of traditions, religion and family culture, and because of their bivalence, their impact on individual and organizational learning dynamics can vary from one family business to another.