An advisor in industrial project management since 2022, Abderrahim Moussaoui began his career in engineering at a design office before joining LafargeHolcim where he held positions as a preventive manager and head of industrial projects from 2002 to 2021.
In September 2023, he will defend his Executive Doctorate of Business Administration (EDBA) on the topic “Assessing safety culture to identify performance levers in a company: Case of an SME in Morocco”, under the supervision of Professor Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet, University Professor at IAE Lyon School of Management, University Lyon 3.
Thesis Direction
Pr Marie-Christine Chalus-Sauvannet
Thesis Title
Evaluating the safety culture to identify the levers for company performance, the case of an industrial SME in Morocco
Abstract
This thesis explores the safety culture of Moroccan SMEs, highlighting a significant gap between their performance in occupational health and safety and the challenges related to sustainable development, despite the efforts of government organizations and large companies. Two major challenges are identified: the influence of the specific Moroccan culture and the implications of outsourcing. Based on the work of Cooper (2000), the study aims to determine the factors defining safety culture, particularly psychological, behavioral, and organizational aspects, and to understand their interrelation and impact on company performance. The research takes a strategic perspective, exploring key elements of organizational culture, transformational leadership, and safety management. The psychological and behavioral dimensions of safety culture are particularly emphasized because of their link with company performance. Faced with the high number of work accidents and annual deaths in Morocco, the study underscores the imperative to improve occupational health and safety, particularly in SMEs. Our research adopts a pragmatic constructivist approach and a mixed methodology for data collection, which includes nine exploratory interviews enriched by participant observations and document reviews, safety behavior evaluations were also conducted through nine semi-structured interviews. A safety climate survey was conducted among sixty employees belonging to different categories of the SME. In sum, the research aims to enrich the understanding of the safety culture in Moroccan SMEs and to identify levers to improve their performance in health and safety.