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Accounting profession organization: an institutionalization

interaction

Abstract The accounting professionalization process in former colonies was largely studied through neo-Weberian social closure or hegemonic approach. However, the theoretical tools and the results developed by research on British former colonies are not able to capture the peculiarities of other contexts, like the French former colonies. This paper analyzes the accounting profession organization process in Morocco between 1947 and 1954. As a French Protectorate, the Moroccan context presents many differences from already studied accounting profession organization process. These differences find expression in the roles of the state, of the home country institutions and of the professionals. This paper based on archives data see the organization of the accounting profession as a process of institutional interaction between meanings systems and logics, practices and structures and actors. An approach allowing to combine institutional and political issues and technical and rational ones.

Key words Accounting profession organization, institutionalization interaction, Morocco, colonial context.

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1. INTRODUCTION

On December 8, 1954, was promulgated, a dahir1 regulating the accounting professional

titles of expert comptable (Chartered accountant) and comptable agréé (registered accountant)

in Morocco. This law did not seek the regulation of accounting practice and the organization

of the profession functioning, but rather to protect these professional titles on competence and

morality criteria. Accounting profession in Morocco was still young at that time. It appeared

and developed with the establishment of the French Protectorate on Morocco (1912-1955).

This occupation, like the others (lawyer, doctor, architect…), was practiced by foreigners

above all for the benefit of the foreign community established in Morocco, because of the

dichotomy of the society (natives and foreigners).

The interest of studying this first step of the accounting profession organisation is twofold.

First, this reform was primary inspired by the organisation of the accounting profession in

France (home country). We can see in that the only normal influencing relation between a

home country and its colony. Meyer (1981)2 contends that it’s easy to predict the organisation

of newly emergent nation administration without having a deep knowledge of this nation,

because “peripheral nations are far more isomorphic – in administrative form and economic

pattern- than any theory of the world system of economic division of labour would lead one to

expect”. But archives data3 on the process of the elaboration of this reform show us the

institutional isomorphism did not have an extensive effect on this process. We seek to

understand this organization process output.

Beyond this empirical contribution, this research aims also to contribute to the literature on

accounting profession on two rarely explored aspects:

- the use of the new institutionalism in studying professionalization process,

- and exploring this process in non yet studied context, the French colonial context.

The development of accounting profession in the British colonial context was largely studied

(Australia ((Chua and Poullaos 1993, ; 1998)), Nigeria (Uche 2002) Philippines (Dyball and

al. 2003), Trinidad et Tobago (Annisette 1999)). But the evolution of this occupation in

former French colonies, in both colonial and post colonial contexts, has been rarely studied

(El Omari and Saboly 2005, ; Longuenesse 2006).

1 Dahir: king decree promulgating a law 2 Quoted by DiMaggio and Powell (1983, p. 152) 3 Primary sources would be referenced in footnotes

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So the matter in this research is to explain this first attempt to organize the accounting

profession in Morocco by using the new institutional framework by following the work of

Zilber (2002) developing institutionalization within an organization field as the interaction of

meanings systems and logics, practices and structures, and actors.

For that, we analyse archives data founded in the “Archives Diplomatiques” in Nantes,

(France), and the “Archives nationales du Maroc” in Rabat (Morocco). The process of the

accounting profession organisation is reconstructed from the internal correspondence of the

“Résidence Générale” (hereafter RG, the French Protectorate administration in Morocco) and

its correspondence with France (home country) administration structures.

In the next section we will present the evolution of the accounting profession in its global

context in Morocco from the start of the 20th century until the elaboration of the December 8

1954 Dahir. The third section introduces the theoretical tools and apply them to the

accounting profession process.

2. THE ACCOUNTING PROFESSION IN MOROCCO.

Even if the study will focus on the reform period 1947-1954, exposed in the third point of this

section, it’s also interesting to present the accounting occupation and the evolution of its

global context.

MOROCCO BEFORE 1912

The 19th century morocco is a traditional country, with the majority of the population was

living in rural regions. The political system was autocratic leaded by a sultan (not a king)

helped by the Makhzen4 (not a government) (Laroui 2001).

The tax system until 1901 was rudimentary based on the Islamic law shari’a, which impose

only two taxes: zakat on the capital (ex. livestock) and Ushur on income (ex. Harvest); the

both annual taxes are not expensive (nearly 20% for the both) (Pennell 2000).

This context, of rudimentary tax system and agriculture based economy, did not help to the

development of accounting and recording practices and the apparition of practitioners whose

primary occupation would be accounting.

Other facts contribute to this situation as the education system. Education of disciplines as

algebra, arithmetic, geometry…etc was excluded from the official education syllabus (for

4 Makhzen : is composed from sultan family members, rich business-minded, ‘Ulama (savant men in Islamic laws and sciences) and the leaders of tribes allied to the sultan.

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example in the university of Qarawiyin in Fes). So the diffusion of this knowledge was made

by and within families and also in zaouias5, which limited their diffusion.

The traditional education had excluded also disciplines as astronomy, geography, medicine

(tibb) … and focused on specialities like law (fiqh), theology and literature (Laroui, 2001,

p197). The outlets of theses specialities are mainly judicature and chancellery6, which are

under the supervision of the Sultan and Makhzen.

As consequence, in one hand occupations as judge, moufti7 and adoul had a high prestige in

the society but remained dependent to the state. On the other hand, occupations that education

was made outside the official traditional system were not organized and did not have a great

prestige in the society; like the occupations of oukil8 in the legal field and tbib in the medical

one. That leads Azziman to conclude that “traditional Morocco did not know professions, the

occupations having the same pattern as the professions were different by their dependence

and public character” (Azziman 1980, p. 98)

In turn, the general context of accounting in of the XIXth century Morocco (economy, state,

education, tax) did not be conducive for the apparition and development of the accounting

practice as an entire speciality of and as consequence the constitution of an occupation

specialized in this field.

FRENCH PROTECTORATE ON MOROCCO: ACCOUNTING PROFESSION IMPORTATION

Under the pressure of the powerful colonial countries, Morocco was obliged to ratify

Algesiras act in April, 7th, 1906.

The exhibited aim of this treaty is to bring back in Morocco the order, peace and prosperity.

The achievement of this objective had to be done in the respect of the sovereignty of the

sultan and the territory integrity under his control. Therefore, the reality was very different

(Pennell, 2000, p.132).

To achieve the announced objective (order, peace and prosperity) many reforms were

imposed, and had as consequence weakening the Makhzen power. Moroccan markets were

open to Europeans by reducing taxes on exportations of agricultural products. The new bank

of state, created in 1907 by the agreement of 1906, had as main mission to act as the treasurer

5 Zaouia : the local house of a tariqua (order or brotherhood), usually built around the tomb of a murabit (a man popularly acclaimed as a ‘saint’) with a mosque and teaching and accommodation facilities attached to it (Pennell, 2000). 6 Specialities that correspondent outlets were removed of the state functions were removed also from the traditional education system. 7 The moufti is an adviser for law and religion issues (Azziman, 1980, p.88); 8 Oukil “sticks to physically representing the litigants in front of judges and defending their point of view.” (Azziman, 1980, p.82)

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of the state. Its administration counsel was composed from the represents of the nations

holding parts in its capital (France held more than 20% of the new state bank capital in 1907,

which percentage rose until reaching 57% in 1947 (Delanoê 1991)). Morocco contacted

during this decade many loans, which increase the dependence and subjection of the

Moroccan financial system.

Just after the opening of the Moroccan economy to European participations in 1907, even

before the establishment of the French Protectorate in Morocco in 1912, many European

industrial groups set up in Morocco (Pennell, 2000, P 133).

France imposed a Protectorate to Morocco’s Sultan (king) in March, 30th, 1912. The first

article of the protectorate treaty stipulates: “The government of the French Republic and his

majesty the Sultan agree to establish in Morocco a new regime including administrative,

legal, educational, economic, financial and military reforms that the French government

judges useful to introduce in the Moroccan territory”.

The French Protectorate was based on the duality and cohabitation of two systems. The sultan

and the makhzen kept their traditional power and sovereignty. The résidence générale (RG,

the Protectorate administration in Morocco) was independent from the makhzen and had its

own prerogatives. The laws, mainly worked out by the RG, were submitted after to vizirs for

promulgation by sultan’s dahir or vizir’s decree.

In the judicial field, autochthones were subject of the traditional jurisdictions, while

Europeans were subject of French jurisdictions in Morocco. This dichotomy was also

perfectly visible in occupations. When new occupations were created and organized to be

carried on by foreigners for the profit of the foreign community, traditional occupations

existing before 1912 remained and sometimes organized by law9.

Pushed by the lack of private capital in the investment established in Morocco, the state was

involved massively in the economy during the protectorate first decades. To encourage the

private initiative, taxes were low and no control on companies was performed.

The implementation of a capitalist economy in Morocco brought with it the competences

needed to its good functioning. Among these imported technologies, we find accounting and

accountants. In 1940s many Moroccan companies were quoted in Paris and Casablanca stock

markets. As the majority of the big Moroccan companies were subsidiaries of big ones in

9 In judicial domain, l’oukil continued to practise in traditional jurisdictions (this traditional occupation was maintained by a dahir in 1925, and no one than a Muslim Moroccan can carry on) and the profession of lawyer was created in 1913 by the civil code. Moroccans were excluded from the new professions imported to Morocco, either expressly or by the impossibility for them, in that time, to fulfil the conditions of admission in these professions; because the required diplomas were French ones.

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Europe, the accounting technology transfer was made by the establishment in Morocco of a

community of accountants.

Companies and professional directories and Court lists of accounting experts analyzed by El

Omari (2008) show an important evolution of accounting professionals community. This

evolution was particularly fast after the Second World War

The growth of the accounting professionals’ community is due all above to the establishment

in Morocco of professionals educated in France because of the weakness of high education in

Morocco (Benazzouz 1985). This latter was mainly provided by the Institut des Hautes

Etudes Marocaines (IHEM, Institute of High Moroccan Studies) created in 1920. In this

institute, in addition of providing an environment for research on Morocco, could be obtained

diplomas of languages, of Berber and Arabic linguistics, Moroccan law, geography, north

Africa sociology, French administrative law…etc.

In this institute, two departments of law studies were created in Casablanca and Rabat. In

these departments, several diplomas of French universities (Bordeaux, Toulouse, Alger10)

were available, mainly in law. A local diploma on economics and management was issued by

the IHEM. El Omari and Saboly (2005) found evidence on the existence in the end of the

1950s of an examination centre of the French diplôme d’expertise comptable (diploma of

chartered accountant) in Rabat. But we can not assert that this exam was organized by the

IHEM or an other organization.

Beside the public education, many independent education schools developed in big cities.

These private sector institutions covered primary and high education. In Rabat for example,

was established the independent college Pigier11, which its main teaching was management

and its techniques.

ACCOUNTING PROFESSION ORGANIZATION IN MOROCCO 1947-1954

In this section we will tray to describe the process of the accounting profession in Morocco

between 1947 and 1954. It was the first step of the organization of this profession in Morocco.

Our source12 to write this process is the internal correspondence of the French Protectorate

administration (résidence Générale; RG) and its correspondence with France institutions

(home country).

10 Alger were considered a that time as a French town, for Algeria was a settler colony of France. 11 (Archives Nationales, Rabat, Enseignement), (Longuenesse 2002) 12 Archives Diplomatiques, Nantes, Morocco, SGP, n 137 and 335. (Archives diplomatiques de Nantes (diplomatic archives in Nantes, France), collection : « secrétariat général du protectorat, Maroc », boxes n° 137 and 335).

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After the establishment of the accounting community in Morocco with the new coming

capitalist economy, it was normal to attend the endeavour of this community to organize their

profession, especially after the organization of accounting profession in France (1945) and

ofother professions in Morocco (lawyers, doctors, architects…).

The first accountants professional body created in Morocco was “la Compagnie des Experts

Comptables au Maroc” (company of chartered accountant in Morocco, hereafter CECM) in

1947, two after the 1945 law creating the OECCA in France, which could not be applied

simply in Morocco, because it was a protectorate and not a colony13.

The CECM expressed to the RG in Rabat its desire to see the accounting profession organized

at the image of the French reform.

Mid 1948, the State Secretary of economic affairs in Paris informed the Foreign Affairs

ministry in Paris of its wish to send a delegation from France to Morocco to study the

possibility of organizing the accounting profession in Morocco on the same bases as France.

The Foreign affairs ministry transmitted this letter to the RG in Morocco.

The RG asked its finances department to study the proposition of the State secretary of

economic affairs and the OECCA, which responded favourably to this request but insisted on

the fact that the charge of this delegation must not be supported bye the RG. So, The general

secretary of the protectorate (SGP hereafter) asked the finances department to consult the

CECM about the organization of the accounting profession, and informed the French Foreign

affairs ministry about this consultation and asked it to wait until the end of professionals

consultation, so the members of this group would not feel excluded from the discussion of an

issue interesting them principally.

Feeling that the RG was trying to get time and more independence to carry out this reform,

the Foreign affairs ministry in Paris responded by a letter, which the style was more directive,

to influence the RG. The following passage of the Foreign affairs ministry letter is eloquent:

“if the statute of the protectorate do not allow the pure and simple implementation in this

territory of the institute of chartered accountants and registered accountants as it was

instituted by the law of September 19, 1945, the state secretary of economic affairs feels that

it will be very interesting to organize the accounting profession in Morocco on the same bases

and principles as France. The aim, in one hand, is to give to the practice of the profession

necessary guaranties and, in other hand, to allow the development of professional relations

between the French and Moroccan organizations […] the state secretary of economic affairs

13 Contrary to Morocco, in that time Algeria was a French colony, so the OECCA had a regional board in Alger and its members were represented in the high board in Paris.

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pointed out that his attention was called by the opportunity of the instauration of legal

auditor14of companies like those, in France, are certified by the courts of appeal…”.

The Foreign affairs ministry tried to influence the RG, and its pressure was more expressive,

for it was not any more question of sending a delegation to analyse the situation, but to

develop the reform project.

After consultation, the CECM seemed to agree to the intervention of the OECCA in the

reform of the accounting profession in Morocco. The OECCA tried again to push the Foreign

affairs ministry to intervene with the RG to accept its participation in the reform.

During the last six months of 1948, the OECCA continued trying to be involved in the

organization of accounting profession in Morocco, through the influence of the state secretary

of economic affairs, who is the representative of the State in the high Board of the OECCA.

As the state secretary of economic affairs could not intervene directly with the RG in Rabat,

he passed through the Foreign affairs ministry which had a direct influence and an authority

on the RG. The Foreign affairs ministry, in its letters to the RG, transcribed the OECCA or

the state secretary of economic affairs letters, and sometimes it transmitted as attached mail.

The correspondence between the RG and Paris in 1949 was less important than in 1948. We

found only two letters. In the first, the foreign affairs ministry asked the RG to keep it

informed about the CECM members’ consultation results. Six months after (June), the

Foreign affairs ministry reiterated its request, and asked the RG to send to him the law project

of the accounting profession organization if there is one in preparation.

From 1950 until 1953, we did not find until now correspondence between the French RG in

Morocco and the home country (France). We think that the both institutions communicated

during this period, but the evidence is still unfound in archives.

Nevertheless, it’s easy to understand generally what happened during this period (1950-53)

from the both institutions’ correspondence in 1954.

During these four years, the juridical department of the RG has developed a law project

regulating the holding of the titles of expert comptable (Chartered accountant) and

comptable agréé (registered accountant). The law project did not envisage the creation of a

professional institute like the French OECCA.

To hold the two titles, the main condition is be titular of the diplôme d’expertise comptable

(chartered accountant diploma) for the title of chartered accountant and a high degree (for

example, Bachelor in management) for the title of registered accountant. The professionals;

14 Legal auditor is the translation of « commissaries aux sociétés”.

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non titular of the required diploma and having practised the profession of chartered

accountant or registered accountant; must have an experience as long as the diploma that they

provide is of a low level.

These transitional conditions for non graduated professionals did not have the agreement of

all. Finances department asked the juridical department the suppression of these transitional

conditions and their substitution by an exam. The juridical department did not reject this

proposition, but found it harmful to the consensus around the organization of the accounting

profession.

In our opinions, the question of an examination to replace the transitional conditions would

face two issues. The first is who would organize this professional exam? The project law did

not envisage the creation of an institute which would be responsible of the organization of this

professional exam. It was possible also to ask a French institution to organise the exam

(minister of education or the OECCA) but this would cause a lost of the independence of

decision, which the RG refused as we will see after in the next section.

The president of Moroccan branch of the chambre des experts comptables diplômés par l’Etat

(chamber of chartered accountants graduated by State, hereafter CECDE) sent a letter

expressing his total disagreement with the law project. According to his point of view, only

graduated chartered accountants are qualified to propose a project of the accounting

profession organization. He refused the creation of two professional categories (chartered

accountant and registered accountant) and the transitional conditions for non graduated

practitioners because they open the profession to non competent ones. For the president of

Moroccan branch of the CECDE, the project of the accounting profession as it was drawn

would perpetuate the same issues and conflicts raised by the creation of the OECCA in

France.

Considering the diploma as the main criteria and condition to access to the accounting

profession is not a new argument in this kind of discussion. The creation of the Brevet

d’expertise comptable (certificate of chartered accountant) in 1927 in France aimed, in

addition to enhance the profession prestige in the society, to exclude from this profession

some practitioners considered as charlatans.

The president of the Moroccan brunch of the CECDE was not against the creation of a

professional body, but against the idea of grouping in the same body the both categories. a

body where the second category (registered accountant) would be the majority. That would

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cause, according to him, troubles which will be “amplified by the duality of populations15

coinciding with the duality of the professions16” (footnote added).

We did not find any response from the RG to this letter, perhaps because the weak weight of

the graduated chartered accountants in Morocco at this time (5 graduated chartered

accountants established in Morocco).

During the period of the law project development, the RG remained unfavourable to the

coming from France to Morocco of a delegation.

Mr Brunet, the state secretary of economic affairs and high representative of the state in the

OECCA, asked the French diplomacy in June 1954, to put pressure on the RG to accept the

visit of a delegation and to put the submission of the law project to vizirs’ counsel off.

The following passage of the Foreign affairs ministry to the RG is much telling: “for

psychological and professional considerations, Mr Brunet thinks that it will be very

preferable that the project; even if it must not undergo changes; be studied together for its

likely effects”. French institutions did not succeed to influence the RG, so they preferred to

keep at least a ceremonial role in this reform by proposing a delegation which will not have

incidence on the law project dispositions.

The RG accepted to put off the submission of the law to vizirs’ counsel of October 1954. it

accepted also the visit of Mr Brunet but it insisted on the foreign affairs ministry that he could

take part only in the application decree of the law.

At the end of October, Mr Brunet arrived to Morocco and met the CECM members and after

senior civil servants of the RG. Mr Brunet in the meeting with the civil servants kept some of

its positions and let down others.

The main abandoned idea is the creation of a professional body, for he considered that this

kind of organization raised some issues in France. He thought that the only protection of the

titles would be more suitable to Morocco. He joined at this point the position of the RG in

Morocco but not for the same reason. The grounds account of the 1954 law; regulating the

hold of the titles of chartered accountant and registered accountant; gave for the non creation

of a body the simple reason that the accounting profession is still a young one, and it would

not constrain its development by a rigid framework, like a professional institute.

Contrariwise, Mr Brunet kept its point of view refusing the consecration of two professional

categories in the same profession. it was clear that Mr Brunet was defending the requests of

15 Moroccan and European populations in Morocco. 16 Chartered accountant and registered accountant professions.

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the chartered accountants, whose in a market where the majority of their jobs could be made

by registered accountants, felt threaten.

The RG view was to not create a monopoly on the accounting market. Its main objective was

to protect the two titles, and to keep them for people deserving them after long years of

studies. The view of the RG was different from the OECCA one and its supports, about the

creation of the second category (registered accountant). This community was more large in

Morocco than chartered accountants. So, if the RG did not protect their title, it would weaken

their situation facing the professionals coming from France for establishment in Morocco, and

also if they decide to come back to Home country.

3. Professionalization: institutionalization interaction

3.1 Accounting profession: as a part of a larger organizational field

Accounting profession evolution can be studied within the theoretical tool of the

”organizational field”. This concept developed by DiMaggio and Powell (1983) is defined as

"sets of organizations that, in the aggregate, constitute an area of institutional life; key

suppliers, resource and product consumers, regulatory agencies, and other organizations that

produce similar services or products." (1983: 148-149).

Organizations in a field interact between them meaningfully and interact also with other

institutions with which they have critic relationship (ex: the state and its agencies). This

interaction among a community results in the emergence of shared meanings systems

(Greenwood and al. 2002).

The difficulty to delimit an organizational field is due the subjectivity of the definition of the

similarity of products or services of one field’s organizations. To enlarge this conception,

Scott and Meyer (1991) propose that organizations could have a similar function. For

example, Davis and al (1994) studied the 500 most important firms in the USA. Greenwood

and al (2002) analyzed consulting firms. In turn, the definition of an organizational field on

the only similarity of products or services or function remains subjective. The similarity of

institutional pressures exerted on organizations could be a complementary element to the

definition of an organizational field, because the institutional pressures are the main source of

the field configuration (Powell and al. 2005). So the accounting profession can be considered

as an organizational field or as being a part of a larger field.

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The accounting profession can be analyzed as a part of an organizational field covering all the

professions. Professions present several similarities. The first concerns their services. These

services are based on high knowledge. The professionals in the French and Moroccan context

are in their majority established for their own. In this context, the similarity finds expression

also in the central role the state plays in the professions life through its regulation power.

Then, we analyze the accounting profession within the organizational field of professions.

Institutionalization as a multi-level interaction

In the tradition of DiMaggio and Powell (1983), research on the institutionalization of

structures and practices was studied through the isomorphism mechanisms. This actions’

institutionalization is the expression of beliefs and logics institutionalization at macro level

(DiMaggio and Powell 1991). But this approach has limits to explain variety and all dynamics

present in the micro level (Zilber 2002). Institutionalization at this level concerns also actors

who are the very support for institutions. In turn, institutionalization process would not

succeed if they are not adopted by micro level actors. Neo-institutional theory did not pay

much attention on the impact of the actors’ demographic evolution on institutionalization

(Zilber 2002). The author explains how strong are practices and structures based on logics

shared by a large community of actors. However, if within actors there are many sub-groups,

consensus is difficult and institutionalization is weak.

Annisette (2000) shows how it was difficult to change the system of accountant education

after the independence of Trinidad and Tobago in despite of an official will. The weak

demographic change within the accountants’ community after the country independence

limits the government action.

3.2 logics in the Moroccan professional field

Meaning systems are beliefs becoming institutionalized in the society or within an

organizational field. These beliefs become objective independently from their initial

supporters. Meanings systems and beliefs influence organizations and their actors throughout

defining expectations and classifying socials orientations (Hasselbladh and Kallinikos 2000).

Within professions organizational field in Morocco, many meanings systems were

institutionalized. Two of them are relevant to this study: 1) professions in Morocco are an

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extension of metropolitan professions and consequently 2) the metropolitan professions

models of organization are to be reproduced in Morocco.

Professions in Morocco are an extension of the metropolitans

High education was not significantly developed in morocco, so a large part of the French

professionals established in morocco were trained and practiced before in France. This idea of

extension is institutionalized by the dichotomy separating the modern new established

professions and the natives’ independent occupations. The separation between the two

jurisdictions (French and Moroccan) maintained and led to the organization of the occupation

“défenseur agréé” whereas the lawyer profession was created and organized. The very idea of

the existence of two societies sustains the fact that the French society established in morocco

is indeed an extension and transposition of the metropolitan one and not a creation of new

society.

The belief of being an extension of the metropolitan profession is clearly found in law project

proposed by the architects to organize their profession in Morocco. The project text17

transferred to the protectorate general secretariat stipulate in its first article: “on one in the

French area of morocco can practice the profession of architect, neither accomplish even

exceptionally an act of this profession, if he is not: - A French citizen enjoying all his civil rights

- A titular of the studies diploma of the following colleges ….”18

The nationality is the first criteria. So an architect is at first of all a French citizen. The second

article of the proposed law opens the profession to strangers if they have one of the diplomas

required by the first article or if they are allowed to practice this profession in their home

countries.

So Moroccans are in fact strangers to this profession as if it was established in France.

Beyond the exclusion aspect of this disposition, the architects consider their profession as a

French one and expressed it through the insistence of the nationality and education even if

they practicing in another country colonized indeed but yet a sovereign one.

The metropolitan professional model is to be produced in Morocco

17 The law project was sent by the Société Marocaine des Architectes Dilpômés par l’Etat (Moroccan company of architects graduated by the State). Letter of October, 29th, 1940 from this company to protectorate general secretariat. Fond SGP, carton 137. 18 The colleges are three French national architect colleges based at Paris.

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From the first belief, a second emerges and becomes institutionalized in the professions

organizational fields: the organization model of the profession in France has to be copied and

applied in Morocco.

The architects wrote in their letter (cf. above) presenting their organization project law to the

SGP that they were inspired from a French law project “elaborated after many years of

studies and discussion. This project gives satisfaction to different groups of French

architects; unfortunately it was never adopted”.

The belief that a french scheme of organization is to be adopted in Morocco is too deep that

makes architects forget (or neglect) the fact that this text xas not adopted in France.

This belief is present within others professions. The SGP elaborates a law project to give

professionals the possibility to attack the disciplinary decisions taken against them. The SGP

elaborated this text in accordance with Moroccan structures. The Doctors Institute (Ordre des

médecins) asked the Batonnier (president of the Bar) advises about this law project. The

opinion of the Batonnier was to accept this law because the same dispositions are present in

France. He goes forward and encourages the doctors to ask the SGP to include some

dispositions adopted in France and omitted by the SGP law project. The SGP legal adviser did

not include them because they are not adapted to Moroccan structures.

This belief of doing well by adopting the French laws in the professional field was hold also

by the public administration even in a moderate way. The SGP legal adviser proposes to adopt

the same structures for the French dentists’ profession because “no local contingency” is

required.

It is normal that the protectorate administration considers normal to copy the French model

and import it to morocco, it is the very sustaining logic of colonialism. But some agencies of

this administration as the director of finance or the legal adviser try to make the laws

dispositions efficient by adapting them to morocco.

Meanings systems and the organization of the accounting profession

The institutionalized beliefs in the professional organizational field explain several elements

of the organization process exposed above. The French Ordre des Experts Comptables et des

Comptables Agréés (OECCA) wants the accounting profession in morocco to be organized on

its own model. Practitioners in Morocco do not consider the OECCA influence as an

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interference in their own agenda. They accept the idea and ask for an OECCA mission to

come in morocco and to participate in this organization19.

The second element the institutionalized meanings systems explain is the reaction of the

French state secretary aux Affaires Economiques and of the Foreign Affairs minister. Despite

the protectorate administration refusal to copy the French accounting profession organization,

the metropolitan administration insist to participate in this process to keep up the illusion that

they were able to influence the organization of the accounting profession in Morocco.

The protectorate administration believed more and more in the necessity of organizing

professions (several professions were organized during the 1940’s). It was done in the aim to

rationalize the society as it showed in these words of the director of finance: “ I insist that the

moral and technical level of the future chartered accountants must be as such high as the

administration could be confident in all circumstances of the practice of the profession

(taxpayers defense, verification,…)20.

However, the Second World War and the corporatist spirit developed during this period have

contributed, in our opinion to the animation of this movement of the protectorate

administration towards the organization of professions. Several professions were organized or

reformed during the Second World War: the Institute of architects is created in July 1941, the

institute of doctors is reformed in 1949 and the institute of dentists in august 1951.

The organization of these professions takes France as a model but did not forget the need of a

contingency towards the Moroccan reality.

3.3 Structures and practices of professions

Profession organization in Morocco presents different organization forms. Some professions

are organized as institute (doctors, advocates, architects), others have their professional title

protected (engineers, nurse) and others have some acts of their practice regulated (business

agents, opticians, sales representatives).

The Protectorate administration and the multi-categories professions:

Professions organized as institutes are the elders and the most prestigious in the society. The

accounting profession was considered as young according to the discourse of the protectorate

administration (motivation account of the dahir of 1954). The accounting profession youth is

19 It possible that the practitioners in morocco were for the French model because of the closure it offers. But there is no direct evidence to confirm this will. 20 Fonds SGP, box 137. Letter of the director of finances of the February, 17th, 1954 sent to the legal advisor of the protectorate.

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twofold: the introduction of accounting profession in Morocco and its organization in France

were recent.

It is sure that the creation of an ordre (institute) for the accounting profession supposes the

inclusion of two professional groups (chartered accountants and registered accountants). This

kind of structures would not be new in Morocco. It is the case of medical professions: the

institute of doctors includes at its creation two groups: the doctors and the dentists. The

doctors accept the inclusion of dentists in their institute only if they have the control of the

organization and the dentists may be subordinated to the doctors. The two categories were in

conflict until their separation into two different professional institutes. To achieve this

separation, a difficult consensus was found and the legal adviser of the protectorate notified

that.

Business agents asked for the organization of their profession. They wished that the state

make obligatory the practitioners inscription on a list established by the Chambre des

Hommes d’Affaires (Union of businessmen). The agents hoped also that this professional

organization would be enforced legally.

However, the protectorate administration refuses to create a professional institute for their

profession because of the multiplicity of categories that it contains. So the administration

regulated in 1945 only some aspects of the practice of this occupation.

Hierarchical accounting profession:

The protectorate administration avoided to create professional organizations including many

professional categories. Accounting profession displayed this same schema by containing two

big categories: chartered accountants and registered accountants. The protectorate

administration knew well that registered accountants are considered as an inferior group but it

was the larger. Bi-headed structures were not the favorite form of professional organization of

the protectorate administration. All the more since this structure adopted for the French

accounting profession is not considered as a success.

The main condition to accede to a profession is the diploma. This institutionalized practice

splits the accounting profession into three groups of accounting practitioners: graduate

chartered accountants and accountants degrees holders and non-graduate accountants.

The choice of diploma as the main criteria for professional admission is not contested. But the

required diplomas are largely delivered in France because of the weak superior education in

Morocco.

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The non-graduated practitioners are admitted to professions through transitory dispositions

enforced by the state. This practice was applied for the organization of dentists’ profession.

Some non- graduated practitioners called “tolerated” were included in the profession because

they get a long period of practice before the profession organization.

3.4 actors Several actors (metropolitan and local) were involved in the organization process of the

accounting profession: the state, the foreign affairs ministry, State Secretary of economic

affairs, OECCA, and accounting professionals in Morocco.

In professions organizational field, the influence of metropolitan institutions is not an new

case. The first profession organized in Morocco, lawyers’ profession, knew this influence.

This profession has been organized and placed under the administrative supervision of Rabat

court of appeal. This supervision was inacceptable for lawyers who ask their metropolitan

collegues help to recover the professional independence. They were succeful some years later

and get a independent professional institute. For the accounting field, the french professional

institute OECCA was among the initiator of the organization process in Morocco.

The second actor is the state represented here by the protectorate administration which several

of its agencies were directly involved in this process: Protectorate general secretary, finances

direction, legal advisor. It’s so blanket and irrelevant to consider the state as a whole or an

homogeneous group. The general secretary managed institutional issues because he was the

main interlocutor of the different lobbying groups: foreign affairs ministry, High economic

counsel, professionals…the general secretary get advised by the other agencies concerned or

involved by accounting organization, principally with the groups working on technical issues

like the finances direction or the legal advisor.

The accounting practitioners as exposed before were split on two large categories: chartered

accountants and registered accountants, in each one many sub-categories can be found if we

classify them regarding the diploma criteria. Graduate chartered accountants were favorable

to the organization of their only group. The inclusion of the registered accountants in the same

professional institute was not refused because of qualification reasons but also because of

nationality. the occupation of registered accountant was more accessible to Moroccans21.

So, the accounting profession organization implicated several actors whose beliefs and

choices were different and sometimes opposed.

21 Fonds SGP, carton n°137, letter of March 02, 1954 from the president of the Moroccan section of the Chamber of chartered accountants graduate by the state, sent to the general secretary of the protectorate.

18

4. Discussion and conclusion

Dahir 1954: output of the interaction of the three elements

The three elements present in the professional organizational field in general and in the

accounting field as a part of it, interact and shape the form that the organization of the

accounting profession take.

No professional institute created

The institutionalized belief that the metropolitan models have to be imported in Morocco was

constrained by two elements:

- The French professional institute OECCA, as a structure, shows many failures caused by some

intestinal conflicts. That get the opportunity to its detractors (mainly actors looking for a

technical efficiency) to propose and impose an alternative.

- The proponents the kind of structure of OECCA did not succeed to be influent: the OECCA

and the French state secretary of economic affairs did not get sufficient power (mainly

coercive one) to influence the Moroccan authorities.

The more legitimate actors, the graduate actors were a minority et and avoid to get a

professional institute that they would lose the control.

Titles protection

The simple importation of a metropolitan structure was not successful, that did not mean that

the organization of the accounting profession is not necessary. Both professional titles

(chartered accountants and registered accountants) existing in France were adopted in

Morocco and helped in distinguishing the two categories of practitioners.

The decision of protecting these two professional titles was supported by the fact that the

protectorate was an extension of the home country (France). This belief imposes a similarity

of structures and practices in the two spaces. The titles of chartered accountant and registered

accountant were institutionalized in France; so the similarity implies their institutionalization

in Morocco. Others technical arguments (for example, professionals’ mobility between

Morocco and France) had influenced also this protection choice.

Access conditions to the professional titles

19

To hold the professionals titles, the practitioners have to be holders of certain diplomas. These

metropolitan diplomas have first a very symbolic value. The diploma increases a profession’s

prestige by endowing practitioners with expertise character.

However, the dahir of 1954 allowed non-graduate practitioners to access to these titles

through transitional conditions. These practitioners can be allowed to hold the professional

titles in accordance of their experience and qualification. The professional is as longer as the

qualification is lower. Those who did not fulfill neither qualification neither experience

conditions, have to pass a professional exam.

This dispensation (transitional conditions) to the institutionalized practice (specialized

qualification) is proceeded by the nature of actors community. The graduate part of

accounting professionals community is very week. The exclusion of a non-graduate majority

increases the risk that the accounting profession organization fails and would cause the

creation of a new and large category “The Excluded”.

Professional exercise

The condition to hold the new protected professional titles is a liberal exercise of the

accounting profession. This condition, introduced by the dahir of 1955 modifying the 1954’s

dahir, is the consequence of the interaction of beliefs systems, practices and actors. The liberal

word refers to the independent exercise of an occupation. It is an important characteristic of

the professions in France and Morocco, so it was predictable that this condition will be added

to the profession organization. To be a chartered accountant in France, it is necessary to

practice in an accounting firm. This condition was a primary proposition of the French

professionals and was defended by the state secretary of economic affairs. This condition was

added as a powerful mean of social closure because neither the qualification neither the

required experience were as high as to close enough the accounting profession.

With some delay from the other professions, the accounting profession got the attention of the

legislator, through the dahir of December 8, 1954 regulating the hold of the titles of chartered

accountants and registered accountants. This RG decision (of regulating only the holding of

titles, to not create a professional institute and to establish two competing professional

categories) did not have the consensus of all the parties (the French OECCA, the economic

affairs office, the graduated chartered accountants).

So, pressures were exerted on the RG, but did not succeed to move it from the positions it

took after the analysis of possible ways of an accounting profession organization in Morocco.

20

Seeing institutionalization as an interaction allows combining in the same analysis

institutional and political issues and technical and rational ones.

This accounting profession organization informs also about the relation between home

country organizations and the protectorate administration.

21

Primary sources Archives Diplomatiques de Nantes, France.

AD, Nantes, “Morocco, SGP. N°137 et 335”

Archives Nationales du Maroc, Rabat. Morocco

AN, Rabat, “Enseignement”

Dahir of December 8, 1954, regulating the hold of the titles of chartered accountants and registered accountants.

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