Balancing tradition and modernity: a Gioia-based study of professionalization in Moroccan family businesses

Purpose This study explores how leaders of Moroccan family businesses interpret and construct the meaning of professionalization, and how they reconcile the demands of modernization with the preservation of deeply rooted family values. It seeks to explain professionalization not merely as a managerial tool, but as a process of balancing tradition and modernity in emerging economies. Design/methodology/approach Adopting an inductive qualitative design grounded in the Gioia methodology, the study draws on 35 semi-structured interviews with executives and senior managers from Moroccan family firms across various industries. Data were analyzed through iterative coding and abstraction, leading to the identification of key theoretical dimensions. Findings The analysis reveals four core dimensions shaping the professionalization process in family businesses: (1) managerial structuring and governance, (2) tradition–innovation hybridization, (3) identity tensions and dynamics and (4) strategic professionalization as a lever for sustainability. These dimensions illustrate how professionalization functions as a mediating mechanism between continuity and change. Originality/value This study extends the understanding of professionalization in family firms within non-Western and culturally embedded contexts. By conceptualizing professionalization as a meaning-making and identity-work process, it contributes to theory building on how family business leaders in emerging economies transform their organizations while preserving cultural continuity.