It gives me great pleasure to have the honour of reviewing New Frontiers of Entrepreneurship by Iqbal M. Khan, with a foreword by J. Hanns Pichler. The late Khan, whom I respectfully called Iqbal Bhai, was a champion of promoting entrepreneurial education in Pakistan and indeed, was among the pioneers in this field. I met him in Lahore in 2007 while promoting entrepreneurship acceleration programmes from the MIT Enterprise Forum. Khan immediately joined our efforts and was immensely helpful in our journey; unfortunately our friendship was limited for a short span of time and his death in 2015 has left a great vacuum in the entrepreneurial education sector. However, his efforts are now producing great results and today almost all universities, from Quetta to Malakand, have entrepreneurial education programmes with newly established incubation centres that are bustling with entrepreneurial activity.

The book starts with a brief history of the initial efforts made in entrepreneurial education during the Schumpeterian era, named after Austrian-American economist Joseph Schumpeter. Khan describes how entrepreneurship began and evolved over more than a hundred years and elaborates how entrepreneurial education is impacting the social sector by enlightening organisations on the concepts of entrepreneurship. As a result, these organisations are now moving from being donor-dependent to becoming self-sustaining ventures. The book also takes into account developments in Southeast Asia, especially Pakistan, over the past few years. Khan emphasises that if Pakistan wants to experience exponential growth in its economy, it must improve the environment for entrepreneurial ventures in the urban and, even more importantly, the rural sector.

The book is divided into eight chapters. Chapters 1 and 2 set the stage with an overview of the role of entrepreneurs in economic history for over two centuries and how some of the concepts and theories have evolved over time. Khan considers the American economy during the 20th century as the paradigm shift in promoting entrepreneurship. By focusing on the small business and offering opportunities to create disruption with new ideas, innovations and industries, the American model revolutionised the world. Khan emphasises that the advent of the digital economy offers a level playing field and anyone with a great idea and hard work can create their dream venture regardless of their geographic location. He also gives a good account of the economic and human resource perspective for educating entrepreneurs and the importance of striking a balance between the two.

Explaining the importance of entrepreneurial education in creating a healthy economic ecosystem for Pakistan

Chapter 3 is a tribute to Schumpeter, describing his role as an economist, writer, professor at Harvard University and his role in the revival and growth of the Japanese economy. Born in 1883, Schumpeter was a witness to the results of the two World Wars, the Great Depression and, most profoundly, the exploitation of the common man. This led him to develop his models of entrepreneurial education and encourage academics to adopt and promote them among the masses. He coined the term ‘Creative Destruction’ as the new reality, through which old industrial institutions were being continuously destroyed by the new breed of entrepreneurs creating new markets, new processes and, with the occurrence of industrial mutation, new industries and economies of scale. At the end of this chapter Khan exhorts the Pakistani government, academia and industrial sector to adopt the Schumpeterian model that will enable small businesses to flourish in the country.

Chapter 4 deals with emerging trends and issues with entrepreneurial education in developing countries. Khan notes the importance of creating research platforms for collecting grassroots data that will help provide a better understanding of the socio-economic paradigm and assist in creating entrepreneurial educational programmes that are customised for our economy. He further elaborates that these efforts will help in developing specific pedagogical models to encourage creativity, innovation, risk-taking and venture-creation in new entrepreneurs.

Khan stresses that in order to successfully implement the entrepreneurial process of ideation, market research, competitive analysis, product development and funding acquisition to go-to-market, we need education with localised data and information. For this purpose he travelled extensively to understand how models used in other countries can be applied to our markets and economy. Based on his in-depth study, he was able to create a localised curriculum for entrepreneurial education which he shared with institutes in Pakistan. In this chapter, Khan points out that a sound educational policy is a must if we wish to progress in entrepreneurial ventures and grow our economy.

Some studies have shown that successful women entrepreneurs generally belong to rather well-to-do families and live in nuclear family homes rather than extended families, as this gives them greater freedom from social and cultural restrictions. There is less likelihood in such a set-up of there being some elderly or more conservative member of the family who would want to impose traditional strictures. — Excerpt from the book

Chapter 5 focuses on the need to foster rural entrepreneurship. This chapter begins with a very interesting discussion on the relationship between entrepreneurship, innovation and economic growth and provides evidence from different economies to support it. The discussion then expands into seeing the impact of rural entrepreneurship in various developed and developing economies. Khan shares information based on case studies from China, India, Iceland, Puerto Rico and Mexico to show how firmly they have established — through entrepreneurial education — the ecosystem in their respective countries. He highlights the need to establish agri-incubators with specialised agri-entrepreneurial education to create opportunities for small and medium enterprises in Pakistan. Such incubators will be instrumental in the exchange of ideas, innovation, technology transfer and creating partnerships in the rural economy for the mutual economic expansion of various players. The author concludes that with the global advent of agri-entrepreneurship education and rise in incubators, an economic sector once thought to be restricted to hereditary ownership will become open to investors who can establish organisations that meet the challenges of the new millennium.

Chapter 6 touches upon the very important topic of the current state of female entrepreneurship in Pakistan. Khan explains how cultural and religious factors are the main hurdle in the growth of women-established ventures in Pakistan. He presents some very interesting surveys that show how women from various sects, castes and communities in Pakistan have created spaces for their microenterprises. Their usual business model starts from a traditionally home-based activity such as baking, tailoring or providing beauty services. Their customers are also almost exclusively women. The typical problems of such ventures include limited access to markets, lack of adequate financing and — even though the women run the business — leaving all financial matters in the hands of male family members. Now that Women Chambers of Commerce and Industry have been set up in the major cities of Pakistan, Khan feels that this will open up more avenues for women to expand their ventures and run them more independently and globally.

Chapter 7 is most interesting, as it pays tribute to the Pakistani minority business communities and the role they have played in the economic development of the country since its inception. After detailing the individual styles of business of these communities and their role in specific industries, Khan emphasises the need to conduct studies on these communities’ business practices. Such studies will prove immensely helpful in developing business models to teach to aspiring entrepreneurs. Again emphasising on developing policies for entrepreneurship education, Khan stresses that members of these communities should be included in the policymaking process and be invited to teach students and aspiring entrepreneurs. While appreciating the role of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Authority, Khan suggests a more comprehensive model that he labels the Entrepreneurship and Small Enterprise Hub. Through this hub, he proposes a concentrated focus on developing education policy and analysing various economic sectors to create better frameworks for growth and human resource development. These efforts, he believes, will help promote the entrepreneurial culture and ecosystem in Pakistan.

In the final chapter the author discusses entrepreneurial success in Pakistan in light of gender roles, education, family structures, government policy and other factors. This chapter really contains a whole new dimension within itself and justifies a separate book with more detailed research. Not only will that help individual entrepreneurs, but will also aid policymakers in developing strong frameworks for economic success.

The reviewer is an entrepreneurial consultant, trainer and author of Entrepreneuring Pakistan: 27 Stories of Struggle, Failure and Success

New Frontiers of
Entrepreneurship
By Iqbal M. Khan
Oxford University Press,
Karachi
ISBN: 978-0199406104
210pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, May 6th, 2018