Hybrid Management of Social Projects in Morocco: Participation, Managerial Rigor and Quest for Sustainability

Abstract

This article examines the management of social projects in Morocco and proposes an integrated framework of “hybrid management.” This model combines managerial rigor, community inclusion or participation, and institutional sustainability. It emphasizes that Moroccan non-governmental organizations (NGOs) strive to reconcile international project management standards—Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), PRojects IN Controlled Environments (PRINCE2), and Project Management for Development (PM4DEV)—with local anchoring and social justice imperatives. Two key observations emerge: NGOs must demonstrate managerial rigor despite relying on volunteer or intermittent teams, and they must ensure financial transparency while guaranteeing authentic beneficiary participation. The article argues that professionalization should not undermine community autonomy and that economic and institutional sustainability remains fragile in the face of volatile funding. Drawing on a literature review (concepts of professionalization, sustainability, and social capital), a documentary analysis of the national context—National Initiative for Human Development (INDH), Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE), regionalization, and Public-Private Partnerships (PPP)—and qualitative analyses of migration and asylum experts, this study highlights paradoxes but also identifies mechanisms for reconciliation: clarified multi-stakeholder governance, resource diversification through social entrepreneurship and public-private partnerships, and hybrid monitoring and evaluation combining quantitative indicators and narratives. An anonymized table summarizes the contributions of consulted experts. These findings lead to operational managerial recommendations aimed at strengthening NGO capacities, such as contextualized adaptation of international standards, simplification and participation, resource diversification, skills and local social capital development, and hybrid monitoring and evaluation.