Diversity management status in morocco. an exploratory stydu

The purpose of this article is to explore diversity management specificities in arab countries, especially in Morocco (North Africa). We analyse organisational initiatives, managers’ perception and the way they mainstream diversity tools in their management.

The Moroccan industry is based on two major sectors: agriculture food and textile. Those two activities represent more than 50% of the PIB, 70% of the national employment and 75% of exportations. We focus our study on those two sectors which are a pillar of the morrocan economy. Our sample consist of 30 questionnaire sent to companies that have more than 50 employees. We received 16 answers. We questioned CEOs, managers, middle managers and employees.

The main contribution of the research is that moroccan leaders are aware of their responsibilities to implement and carry out diversity projects. The main topics mentioned concerns equality and gender. However, they have no skills or power to ensure that responsibilities fully. Diversity management is not included in the strategy. It remains a minor task operated mainly by the human resource department. Morrocan managers need more specific trainings and a global governmental policy to guide their actions. Employees are not well informed about their rights.
Moreover, Morocco will open a free exchange zone in 2010. This is an opportunity for many international companies to invest in the country. Most of them are from Europe and USA. They are well informed about diversity management, especially gender issues. This represents a threat for Moroccan companies who feel the urgency to develop a national framework for diversity management.

Our research is still under study. We are collecting more data and we aim to integrate some extra stakeholders in the sample. Mainly the government and the local communities. The fact that we interviewed only managers gives us a limited view of the diversity management status in Morocco.