International Journal of Trend in Research and Development, Volume 3(1), ISSN: 2394-9333 www.ijtrd.com IJTRD | Jan-Feb 2016 Available Online@www.ijtrd.com 11 The Effect of Perceived Overqualification on the Entrepreneurial Intention : Case of The Moroccan Executives - Engineers 1 Taoufik Yatribi and 2 Said Balhadj, 1 PdD Student, 2 Research Professor, 1,2 Department of Management & Audit, The National School of Management, Tangier, Morocco Abstract: The objective of this article is to study the influence of the perception of overqualification on the entrepreneurial intention among executive engineers. The results issued from hierarchical regression analyses, which were applied on a sample of 376 executive-engineers show that the intensity of the relation between the entrepreneurial attitude and perceived behavioral control, and the entrepreneurial intention varies according to perceived overqualification. The theoretical and managerial implications of this research will be presented, and avenues of research will be proposed. Keywords: Entrepreneurial Intention, Perceived Overqualification, Theory of Planned Behaviour, Executive- Engineer. I. INTRODUCTION See to it that the skills acquired through the education system are in adequacy with those required by the employment is essential to fire the best of the employee. Unfortunately, several employees suffer from a problem of overqualification. The overqualification is the situation in which the employee possesses a level of qualification upper to that required by his employment [1]. Among the employees, the engineers are a category more exposed to the problem of overqualification. It has negative consequences on the well- being of the employee and on the company. Previous studies show that the perception of overqualification influences negatively the intention to leave the company [2], job satisfaction [3], and the organizational commitment [4]. However, to our knowledge, there isn't any work who studied the relation between the overqualification and the entrepreneurial intention. Indeed, several employees choose to turn to the entrepreneurial career because the employment does not allow them to exploit and to value their skills. These people do not like seeing their capacity under employees and will not hesitate to leave their employment if we let them vegetate without perspective of evolution. In Morocco, countries towards which we are interested in this study, the companies tend to look for engineers having skills and entrepreneurial qualities and allocate them to natural missions more technical than managerial or still entrepreneurial [5]. Reference [6] find that the degree of use of the skills is a source of satisfaction at the Moroccan engineers. These findings invite us to study how the perception of overqualification can bring certain employees to leave their work to create their employment. Several researchers stipulates that each entrepreneurial behaviour is intentional, and that it rarely happens randomly [7], The present research proposes to explain the entrepreneurial intention of the engineers, with an accent put on the degree of use of the skills. Our objective is to explain why certain employees are more attracted than other towards the entrepreneurship. We argue in this research that the engineers who are livened up by a strong perception of overqualification are more attracted by the entrepreneurship. Our article is divided into four parts. After presenting the theoretical framework of our study, we will tackle the method chosen for this research. The third part will be dedicated to results and discussion the major characteristics of this research. After that, several recommendations will be drawn up and research leads will be determined. II. FRAMEWORK AND HYPOTHESES A. Entrepreneurial Intention Intention reflects the urge to act as well as the belief according to which we are going to act. It should be the nearest antecedent to an action or to a conduct attempt [8]. The Theory of Planned Behaviour is among the most commonly used social psychology theories used to explain and predict the human behaviour, including the entrepreneurial intention [9] [12]. It is particularly based on the Theory of Reasoned Action elaborated by [13]. The references [11] [12] [14] [16] suggest using Ajzen’s Theory of Planned Behaviour to predict and explain the entrepreneurial behaviour. The TPB’s objective is to explain the entrepreneurial intention, and then the action. The main variable of this model is intention. Company creation is a planned behaviour; consequently, it is intentional. Amongst the former’s conditions, intention seems to be the best predictor of behaviour; better than attitudes, beliefs, or other psychological variables [17]. Intentions are formed through time, under three main factors whose importance depends on the studied case. The three antecedents of intention are:  The attitudes toward the behaviour: The attitude of the individual to the creation of a company rests on its values and its professional characteristics, and on its vision of the entrepreneurship.  The subjective norms : They refer to the social pressure that pushes the individual to perform or not perform a behaviour [18]. It is determined by all the normative beliefs related to the expectations of key social influences (spouse, family, friends, etc).  The perceived behavioural control: It makes a reference to the degree of confidence by which the person thinks she can successfully create his own company.