Who Should Attend ?

Company managers and staff working and dealing with the Moroccans, going on international assignment or in missions in Morocco, teams working at distance with Moroccan teams, companies outsourcing in Morocco

Benefits of Attendance

The aim of this seminar is to significantly improve the participants’ effectiveness in their professional relationships with the Moroccans, enabling them to be operational right from the start.

At the end of this training, participants will have acquired insights and techniques to:

• Be aware of their own cultural baggage
• Fully understand Moroccan context and culture
• Analyse possible situations in which misunderstandings may arise and identify ways of communicating
• Reduce stress and misunderstandings
• Decipher and understand Moroccan decision-making and negotiation processes

Training Approach

Programme Outline

Module 1 : Understanding cultural differences

1. Intercultural awareness, the key to success in international business

• Taking stock of one's own cultural baggage
• The basics of effective intercultural management
• Identifying and going beyond cultural stereotypes

2. Key aspects of Moroccan culture

• A many faceted kingdom
• Separate ethnic groups: Arabs and Berbers
• Religious coexistence: Islam, Christianity and Judaism
• The legacy of the protectorates and Arab-Muslim nationalism
• The Moroccan monarchy: change through continuity
• Territorial points of contention: the  maghzen
• The weaknesses and opportunities of the Moroccan economic model

3. The impact of values and behaviour patterns on professional dealings and relationships

• The influence of Islam on Moroccan behaviour
• An immeasurable view of time: the importance of the collective mindset
• Hospitality and courtesy.  Honour and loyalty
• Clans and networks.  Inequality of opportunity and zakat
• Moroccan women on the road to emancipation

4. The Moroccan corporate world

• From small companies to world class firms
• The role of the state and the authorities: an extensive bureaucracy
• Understanding the Moroccan hierarchy: a respect for age and status
• Pragmatism and adaptability.The importance played by emotional aspects.
• A general set of rules with countless exceptions

Module 2 : Succeeding in work with the Moroccans

1. Effective communication with the Moroccans

• The Arabic-speaking and French-speaking worlds
• Body language. Attention to one’s appearance: charisma and eloquence
• The verbal promise: a declaration of good intentions
• Qualifying your statements. The importance of “getting it in writing”.
• Networking and the flow of information
• Advertising

2. Adapting your working methods

• Building confidence: patience and flexibility
• Effective management: an emphasis on subjective aspects.
• Conflict avoidance and resolution: tempering criticism with euphemisms
• Pitfalls to be avoided
• Decision-making processes
• Politeness and a keen sense of service

3. Successful meetings and negotiations with the Moroccans

• The preparatory phase
• The joys of haggling
• Identifying decision makers and priorities
• The importance of middlemen
• Moroccan-style time management: work and pleasure
• Attitudes to contracts and their implications: a one-to-one commitment
• Learning to compromise

4. Final handy tips

• Caution, patience and humility
• Protocol and etiquette
• Social standards, gifts, business cards, dress code, etc
• Sensitive subjects: politics, history, religion
• Humour: a double-edged sword