ISSN (Print) : 0974-6846

Indian Journal of Science and Technology, Vol 12(31), DOI: 10.17485/ijst/2019/v12i31/147274, August 2019 ISSN (Online) : 0974-5645

The Typology of Digital Entrepreneurship in Morocco

Anaflouss Nadia* and Jamal Youssef
Economic and Social Sciences of Mohammedia, The Research Laboratory of Entrepreneurship and
Environmental Management of the Company, Morocco; nadia.anaflouss@gmail.com,
prof.youssefjamal@gmail.com

Abstract
Objectives: This article aims to establish a critical presentation of the typology of digital entrepreneurship in Morocco.
It proposes to characterize the typology from which entrepreneurs’ thoughts about starting a new digital adventure are
formed. Methods/Statistical Analysis: A qualitative study was conducted with a panel of Moroccan digital entrepreneurs
to understand the typology of digital entrepreneurship in Morocco. Findings: The results obtained highlight two major
results. First, we found the presence of a form of homogeneity of digital entrepreneurs’ beliefs. Next, we noticed the exis-
tence of 2 forms of digital entrepreneurship: Moderate & Extreme. Application/Improvements: The article incorporates
a series of discussion to understand the typology of digital entrepreneurship in Morocco, its particularities and also its
benefits.

Keywords: Digital Benefits, Digital Entrepreneurship, Digital Particularities, Entrepreneurship, Typologies

1. Introduction Just like traditional structures, goal of any digital company

is to make a financial gain5. Indeed, the product if it is a
With the development of information and communication good or a service (its place of work, its ease of entry on the
technologies (ICT), several companies have oriented market,its facility of manufacture or storage ...) are all the
their development strategies towards digitalization elements which make the difference between a traditional
and have opted for a new business model which is and a digital company6. Entrepreneurs who intend to
totally different from the usual one1. The rapid pace of engage in digital must understand these differences as well
digital transformation has thus disrupted competitive as the opportunities arising from digital. In7 the literature,
environments and traditional business processes. Infact, researchers8 have tried to propose a framework of digital
digital has created a new form of entrepreneurship called entrepreneurship where they show the typology of digital
digital entrepreneurship that “encompasses all new companies and their characteristics. We will therefore rely
businesses and the transformation of existing businesses on this framework to understand the typology of digital
that generate economic and / or social value by creating entrepreneurship in Morocco.
and using new digital technologies”2. Digital businesses are
characterized by intensive use of new digital technologies
(especially social, Big data, mobile and cloud-based 2.  Digital Entrepreneurship
solutions) to improve business operations, invent new Digital entrepreneurship is “a subcategory of
business models, strengthen business intelligence and entrepreneurship in which some or all of the physical
engage with customers and stakeholders.They create the components of an organization have been digitized”6.
jobs and growth opportunities of the future3. Nowadays, Therefore, by definition, the products, distribution,
companies have at their disposal several technologies that workplace and all the physical elements that make up
can use (social networks, big data and cloud solutions) to an organization could take the digital format8. Digital
create, develop or promote their products and services4. entrepreneurship refers to a new form of entrepreneurship

*Author for correspondence

 The Typology of Digital Entrepreneurship in Morocco

where entrepreneurial activity takes place in digital form purchase, article of clothing ...), delivery may take à few
rather than in a traditional form9. days. On the digital side, companies have to face the
Like traditional structures, the ultimate goal of any increased competition. And this, by setting up a customer
digital one is to make a financial profit. The difference service available 24/24 and 7/7 to respond to requests
between these two forms of entrepreneurship relies received. An unprepared digital entrepreneur may not
in their business models, as well as the way in which honor his orders, and thus lose his clients.
entrepreneurs manage their products, marketing
strategies and online distribution8. 3.4  Digital Workplace
Managing your business online allows digital entrepreneurs
3.  The Benefits of Digital to take advantage of their presence on the web. This ICT
Entrepreneurship development now offers digital entrepreneurs also the
opportunity to have employees of different nationalities
Among the greatest advantages of digital entrepreneurship, who can work on the same digital platform without being
the ease of entry into the market with the presence physically present in the workplace6.
of barriers to entry less solid than those present in the
form of traditional entrepreneurship9. Thus, it represents
a very attractive option for all socially marginalized or 3.5  Digital Product
economically disadvantaged actors to generate income Today, the Internet represents a space where hundreds
from their entrepreneurial activity10. are interconnected to give access to the global data
available on hosts. Thus, it offers considerable
3.1  Ease of Entry on the Market potential for the distribution of digital products
worldwide11. From an entrepreneurial point of view,
With the development of ICTs, little time is needed to
commercializing a digital product offers several
create a commercial website9. The emergence of web 2.0
advantages that go beyond manufacturing, distribution
is a tool that allows digital entrepreneurs to develop their
or storage; On the digital side, the product can easily
activities and reach a community on the web that will be
undergo significant changes without affecting the
more or less likely to buy their products.
marketing process of the product.

3.2  Ease of Manufacture and Storage:

On digital, the entrepreneur can opt for the marketing 3.6  Digital Service
strategy (for goods & services) which is completely digital Most start-ups that emerge in the digital domain offer
or traditional; This choice will significantly impact its exclusively a digital service. The latter represents for
costs. Unlike traditional products, promoting a digital the client a huge profit because of the multitude of
product on a digital platform doesn’t generate any cost benefits that it includes: minimum cost of service and
of manufacturing or storage. However, digital products value perceived by the high customer6.In addition, the
require a complex creative process, but once the product entrepreneur must ensure that the service provided
is ready to be offered,no physical installation is needed to is really worth the price charged, hence the need to
store it. So, digital entrepreneurship reduces many costs move towards the market. It is essential for the digital
related to the traditional production process of products. entrepreneur to identify the desires of his customers
and know what the competition is doing in order
3.3  Easy Distribution to meet their needs and always be ahead.To this
With the emergence of ICTs, customers today find end, digital entrepreneurs who build their business
themselves with a huge assortment of products and models exclusively on the digital presence, otherwise
services offered to those customers wishing to order called «extreme entrepreneurs», unlike traditional or
online. The delivery of digital products like (software, mild entrepreneurs, must always be attentive to their
music, movies, ...) is immediate after making the payment. customers who are present only on a web space to
For other products such as online services (domain name contract a digital service6.

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 Anaflouss Nadia and Jamal Youssef

4.  Typology of Digital interview progresses in order to guide the respondent.

It is:
Entrepreneurship
Digital entrepreneurship can be divided into three types: • Presentation of the digital entrepreneur;
the mild, the moderate and the extreme. The first type • The activity of the Moroccan digital entrepreneur; and
is the form of digital entrepreneurship where the use of • The typology of the Moroccan digital entrepreneur.
digital channels is only à complement to traditional sales
channels. Then, in the moderate digital entrepreneurship, Understanding in depth the typology of digital
the entrepreneur gives more importance to the web entrepreneurship in Morocco is in other words discover
components and integrate them into his project. Finally, the motivations, opinions, attitudes and feelings
the extreme form of digital entrepreneurship is about to underlying digital entrepreneurs. This is the objective
launch a completely digital company.importance to the of the semi-directive interview conducted.So, we chose
web components and integrate them into his project. as a measurement technique during our semi-directive
Finally, the extreme form of digital entrepreneurship is interview, the LADDERING technique, which consists
about to launch a completely digital company. Figure 1 of starting with questions about the characteristics of the
show the typology of digital entrepreneurship6. digital entrepreneur in Morocco, gradually moving to
questions that reveal his hidden motives. The measurement
technique chosen for semi-structured interviews is the
horizontal and vertical analysis technique and summarize
the results as a whole. For this study, we interviewed 06
Moroccan digital entrepreneurs. The choice of the sample
size was based on the saturation principle, that is to say,
we stopped the interrogation of new digital entrepreneurs
when we noticed the redundancy of the answers.The
people interviewed for this study were chosen according to
the «snowball» method, asking each digital entrepreneur
to recommend a colleague who could answer us.

6.  Result of the Study

Figure 1.  Typology of digital entrepreneurship . 6

5. Methodology 6.1  Horizontal Analysis

Theme 1.1: The age of digital entrepreneurs
As part of this work, we will opt for a constructivist surveyed in this study varies between
approach to build while being associated with digital 25 and 37 years. This explains that
entrepreneurs knowledge about the different typologies digital entrepreneurship is rather young
of digital entrepreneurship in Morocco. The approach discipline.
associated with this posture is the qualitative approach. A Theme 1.2: Digital entrepreneurs have an advanced
field study was conducted among 06 digital entrepreneurs training diplomas from Moroccan
in Morocco. Starting from the fact that this is an exploratory high schools or universities in biology,
study, we have chosen to carry out a qualitative study management or economics. Also, they
by opting for the method of semi-directive interviews, didn’t all have the experience of working
which consists in situating the respondent in a concrete in an organization before embarking on
experience through the schema. The proposed question entrepreneurship.
and the order in which the questions are asked, this is why Theme 2.1: The digital entrepreneurs surveyed
we have drawn up a list of topics to be addressed as the operate in different fields of activity.
Each of them chose their activity

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 The Typology of Digital Entrepreneurship in Morocco

Table 1. Analysis grid of conducted interviews

Interview 1 Interview 2 Interview 3

Theme 1.1: Age of the

27 years 32 years 35 years
Digital Entrepreneur
Theme 1.2: Academic and - Bac +5 in international trade - Bac + 5 in biology
- Bac +5 in Marketing and sales
professional career of the - Experience of more than 10 - Experience of more than 10
- No professional experiene
digital entrepreneur years in international shipping years

Theme 2.1: Field of activity Sale of computer equipment and The sale of computer gadgets The sale of organic and natural
of the digital entrepreneur accessories and goodies products

Target: Any one wishing to

Theme 2.2: Target and Target: Anyone wishing to buy Target: Anyone interested in
purchase computer hardware or
project positioning computer goodies or gadgets organic and natural products
accessories

Positioning: This is an select

Positioning : Put at the Positioning: Allow customers
store where the person can find
disposal of Moroccans online direct online access to organic
all brands that offer computer
gadgets and computer goodies and natural references
hardware
Theme 2.3: Products / Computer Hardware and
Gadgets and computer goodies Organic and natural products
Services of the company Accessories
Theme 3.1: The typology of Moderate (e-commerce site +
Extreme (online site) Extreme (online site)
the digital project physical stores)
Make available to customers
Strategic choice to reach a
the majority of organic and
Theme 3.2: The reasons for enjoy the benefits of the online target 100% connected and
natural references so that they
choosing this positioning and physical store who inevitably uses our
have direct access where they
gadgets and goodies
are

Theme 3.3: The advantages Reaching a huge target with ease Ease of entry into the market Ease of entry into the market
of this positioning of entry into the digital market and ease of distribution and ease of distribution

Theme 1.1: Age of the

28 years 25 years 37 years
Digital Entrepreneur

Theme 1.2: Academic and - Bac + 5 in Logistics - Bac +5 in Marketing and - Bac + 5 in finance
professional career of the - Experience of more than 7 sales - More than 10 years
digital entre-preneur years as a supply chain manager - Without experience experience

Theme 2.1: Field of activity Home delivery of fruits and

Home delivery of the races Beauty products
of the digital entrepreneur vegetables of the season
Target: Moroccans wishing to
Target: Moroccans wishing to be Target: Women interested in be delivered fruits or vegetables
delivered at any time of the day beauty and care products of the season at any time of the
Theme 2.2: Target and Positioning: Providing Positioning: Making available day
project positioning moroccans with a home delivery to women the majority of Positioning: Providing
service that will make their lives international brands not Moroccans with a home
easier available in Morocco delivery service that will make
their lives easier

4 Vol 12 (31) | August 2019 | www.indjst.org Indian Journal of Science and Technology
 Anaflouss Nadia and Jamal Youssef

Theme 2.3: Products / Home delivery of fruits and

Home delivery of the races Beauty and care products
Services of the company vegetables of the season
Theme 3.1: The typology of Extreme (Website & web Moderate (e-commerce site &
Extreme (online site)
the digital project application) physical store)
Theme 3.2: The reasons for Facilitate the life of Moroccans Moderate (e-commerce site Facilitate the life of Moroccans
choosing this positioning through an online presence &physical store) through an online presence

The ease of entry into the

Theme 3.3: The advantages market and the lack of cost of Enjoy the benefits of the online Ease of entry into the market
of this positioning distribution and storage + the and physical store and ease of distribution
ease of distribution

based on their previous professional experience in the job market and has chosen to embark
experience or chose a new activity that on entrepreneurship right out of school by creating a
represents in their eyes a challenge. «select store» concept where they offer the majority of
Theme 2.2: These digital entrepreneurs market brands of hardware and accessories in a physical store
products and services that target a and on an online site. This decision to choose the form of
well-defined target and rely on their «moderate» digital entrepreneurship is motivated by its
competitive advantage to distinguish desire to reach a huge target and take advantage of the two
themselves. channels: traditional and digital.
Theme 2.3: The products and services marketed Second interviewee: Our second digital entrepreneur
by these digital entrepreneurs are: has master’s degree in international trade, and has worked
Computer hardware and accessories, for more than 10 years in international shipping in one of
computer gadgets and goodies, home the e-commerce giants in China. He decided to launch
delivery of groceries, organic and his project in Morocco selling goodies and computer
natural products, beauty and care gadgets and chose an extreme positioning for the latté.
products, home delivery of fruits and The ease of entry into the market and ease of distribution
vegetables of the season. are the main advantages that led him to choose this form
Theme 3.1: The «Extreme» form of digital of digital entrepreneurship.
entrepreneurship is the typology of Third interviewee: This digital entrepreneur has
digital entrepreneurship that has a Bac +5 in biology, she chose to embark on digital
been repeated several times between entrepreneurship through an online site «extreme
entrepreneurs. format» selling organic and natural products. His
Theme 3.2: The digital entrepreneurs interviewed choice was motivated by her desire to bring her
for this study justify their choice of different organic and natural references to Moroccans
digital entrepreneurship typology by the where they are and facilitate contact between her
desire to reach a huge target and to get business and the customer.
closer to them because they are already Fourth interviewee : With a Bac + 5 in Logistics,
online. he was able to work more than 7 years as supply chain
Theme 3.3: Mostly, ease of entry is the main manager. In order to be his own boss, our digital
advantage of the digital entrepreneurship entrepreneur today has a start-up home delivery of
typology chosen by digital entrepreneurs online shopping as an extreme positioning, he was
as shown in Table 1. able to prevail on the market and took advantage of a
market entry, ease of storage and ease of distribution.
6.2  Vertical Analysis Fifth interviewee: This entrepreneur has
capitalized on her acquired knowledge during her
First interviewee: The first digital entrepreneur
academic career and launched her business of beauty
interviewed in this study is a laureate of a large school
and care products after having graduated. She chose
with a Bac +5 degree, he has never had a professional

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 The Typology of Digital Entrepreneurship in Morocco

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