Case

A Challenge in Governance: Asian Journal of Management Cases

16(2) 201–217, 2019
A Case of Higher Education © 2019 Lahore University of
Management Sciences
in Pakistan Reprints and permissions:
in.sagepub.com/journals-permissions-india
DOI: 10.1177/0972820119858543
journals.sagepub.com/home/ajc

Arif Nazir Butt1

Shezeen Salim Hemani1

Abstract
This case documents the governance challenges faced by Namal’s Board of Governors. Namal College
(Namal) was the brainchild and dream project of Imran Khan—world-renowned cricketer, philan-
thropist and one of the most popular politicians of Pakistan. This case narrates the journey of Namal
College from its inception in 2002 until August 2014. At this juncture, Abdul Razak Dawood (ARD),
the Vice Chairman of Namal’s Board, contemplated the challenges that Namal faced and the role the
Board and its members could play in taking the college closer to its vision.
  From its humble beginnings as a technical training and diploma-awarding institute, Namal managed to
achieve several milestones in one decade of its existence. One of the most notable achievement was
the acquisition of a 1,000-acre land.
  ARD, a graduate from Columbia University, a leading industrialist and the founder of one of Pakistan’s
largest engineering company, Descon Engineering, wondered what would it take to create a high-
powered and effective Board? ARD was concerned about addressing Namal’s challenges, which included
governance, management, funding, academics and construction issues. The question was what role
could the Board play in doing so? More explicitly, what role could each Board member play? Was there
a possibility of creating committees within the Board to ensure efficient functioning and accountability?
In sum, the case revolves around critical governance issues that needed to be addressed to ensure
Namal’s sustainability and growth.

Keywords
Higher education, governance challenges, boards, leadership, Pakistan

1
Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences, Lahore, Pakistan.

Corresponding author:
Shezeen Salim Hemani, Teaching Fellow, Suleman Dawood School of Business, Lahore University of Management Sciences,
Lahore 54792, Pakistan.
E-mail: shezeen@lums.edu.pk
202 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

Discussion Questions
1. What are the challenges and key issues that Namal’s Board needs to address after the acquisition
of the 1000-acre land?
2. What is your assessment of Namal’s existing Board? What role has it played?
3. Given Namal’s challenges, what would your recommendations be for ARD regarding (a) what
should be the role of the Board, (b) What should be the most suitable role for each Board member
and (c) Which board committees can be formed?
4. What is the role of a governing body in higher education institutions?
5. How can institutions create high-powered and effective boards? What would be your recommen-
dations to ARD?

It was a typical summer afternoon in the city of Lahore, Pakistan. The Vice-Chairman of Namal’s Board of
Governors, Mr Abdul Razak Dawood, had just returned from Namal College in Mianwali. Namal College
(Namal) was the brainchild and dream project of Imran Khan—a world-renowned cricketer1, a philanthropist2
and one of the most popular politicians3 of Pakistan. The college was established in 2008 in Mr Imran’s
beautiful home town Mianwali. That morning, Mr Razak remained contentedly engrossed in the memories of
Namal’s breathtakingly beautiful countryside. Further, the news of the government’s approval of the much-
awaited 1000-acre land had set a wave of excitement and jubilation amongst the board members.
The approval for the 1000-acre land had not come easy for Namal. For over five years, Namal’s board
waited with the construction plans without being able to move even a single brick. It was back in 2009
when Mr Razak had made one of his first trips to Mianwali with Mr Imran. At that time, Mr Razak
suggested, ‘If you are really talking long term you need nothing less than 1000 acres of land. Apply for
a 1000 acres now, you will need it.’ After a long wait, Namal finally got the land.
Over the past decade, Namal had seen many highs and lows. The vocational training institute was
uplifted to a university-degree awarding college (affiliated with Bradford University, UK) with degree
programmes in Computer Sciences and Electrical Engineering. The growth in student body from 80 to
over 250 coming from 47 districts of the country and the recruitment of 11 PhD faculty members were a
few notable milestones in this journey of ten years. In contrast to this, the list of challenges went far
beyond, mainly due to the remote and rural location of the institution and the lack of human resources.
In these circumstances, Namal’s board was expected to play a vital role. Mr Razak contemplated the
role of the board in addressing Namal’s challenges and in taking it closer to its vision of becoming
Pakistan’s first knowledge city. Given the governance and management issues on one hand and the bud-
getary and academic needs on the other, Mr Razak contemplated as to (i) what should be the role of the
board? and (ii) how to make governance more effective? At that hour, it had also become imperative to
decide on specific roles for board members and create new committees within the board. Mr Razak was
concerned about whether the board should remain involved in the micro-management of the college or
concentrate on broader governance and key strategic issues. He contemplated as to how to create a high-
powered board that could lead Namal towards sustainability and growth.

Namal College
Background and Establishment
Namal College was located at a short distance outside the city of Mianwali, on the Talagang-Mianwali
Road. The college was set in beautiful countryside at the edge of Namal Lake (Figure 1). The two-storey
building, covering an area of 62,500 sq. ft., housed the college administration, academic departments,
Butt and Hemani 203

Figure 1.  View of Namal College, Mianwali-Pakistan

Source: www.namal.edu.pk
Disclaimer: This image is for representational purposes only. It may not appear well in print.

together with a library, a cafeteria and laboratories. The college offered two academic programmes:
BEng (Hons) in Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and a four-year BSc (Hons) in Computer Science.
Namal’s beginning can be traced back to 2002. In 2002, on one of Mr Imran Khan’s trips to Mianwali,4
he stopped on the way at a small gas station cum dhaba5 for a quick meal. Gazing at the lush green fields,
he inquired from Mr Tariq, the owner of the gas station, about the source of livelihood of the local
people. Mr Imran was dismayed to learn about the abysmal state of unemployment mainly due to lack of
affordable quality education. At this point, he decided to build a technical college to address these
problems and subsequently founded the Mianwali Development Trust6 (MDT). MDT aimed to address
basic issues such as education, health, access to credit and community development.
From 2002 to 2008, Mr Imran struggled to bring people on board for the Namal project through his
personal and political connections. Supporters joined hands either by offering financial assistance or
through their expertise—one of Mr Imran’s architect friend offered to design Namal’s first building
while a construction company came forward to construct the building. In 2008, Namal opened its doors
to the youth of Mianwali by offering a two-year diploma in Network Administration and Software
Development.7 At that time, Namal’s building was a simple structure with classrooms, labs and some
offices. The teachers and students were from the local village. The teachers were sufficiently qualified to
meet the academic requirements of a diploma programme.
Within one year, Namal transitioned from a diploma-awarding vocational institute to a university
degree-awarding college offering University of Bradford (UOB) degrees. However, what was sufficient
for a vocational training institute (including the current infrastructure, facilities and the faculty from the
local village) was no longer adequate for a degree-awarding college. Bringing Namal to the standard of
a foreign-affiliated degree programme was a challenge in itself.
Nonetheless, Namal College continued to aspire and set higher goals. Beginning with the aspiration
to serve the rural youth of Mianwali, Namal’s vision had expanded to offer quality education to not only
the youth of Mianwali but to those from the entire country. Mr Imran dreamt of turning Namal into the
first knowledge city of Pakistan. He envisioned an Oxford-like institution with medical, engineering, law
204 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

and many other schools in rural Pakistan. His dream was to create a centre of education and a research
hub and that too in a rural environment—an initiative that he believed to have the potential to turn the
fate of his country. With this vision, Namal applied for a 1000-acre land.
By 2014, the first batch of 60 students graduated and received UOB degrees. Of the graduating batch,
85 per cent got employment with an average monthly starting salary of PKR 24,000 with the highest
being PKR 40,000. Namal had a strength of over 250 students who came from 47 districts of Pakistan.
About 90 per cent of Namal’s students studied on financial aid. The faculty size had grown to include
eleven PhDs (Tables 1 and 2, Figure 2).

Table 1.  Major Milestones

2002 –  Conceptualization of idea and vision to build a training institute

2005 –  Imran Khan received University of Bradford Chancellorship
2008 – Namal College inaugurated as a Technical Institute giving diploma in Network
Administration and Software Development
2009 –  Namal became a UOB affiliated Degree College offering BSc in Computer Sciences.
–  Namal applied and paid for 1,000 acres of land
–  Board of Governors created
2010 –  Namal College inaugurated the Electrical Engineering School
– Namal got a government college building and moved the Batch admitted in 2011 into
that building for accommodation.
–  First PhD hired in the faculty
–  Marketing department set up in Lahore
2011 –  Few Students graduated as technicians
–  The second PhD, Dr Malik Jahan joined Namal
2012 –  First Batch of 55 students graduated
2013 –  First Convocation held in December
–  Number of applications reached 1,930
2014 –  11 Full–time PhD faculty members
–  Allotment of 1000 acres of land
–  The average salary of graduating students: PKR 32,000 to PKR 33,000
–  Applied to Higher Education Commission for independent degree awarding status
Source: Namal Records.

Table 2.  Financial Assistance to Students

Year 2009–2010 2010–2011 2011–2012 2012–2013 2013–2014

Total No of Students 146 207 248 272 291
No of students getting 144 187 208 234 217
full/partial assistance
Percentage 99 90 84 86 75
Total tuition fee 25,145,500 36,270,000 46,052,501 54,321,672 56,275,832
Financial 19,145,000 27,859,900 32,967,000 41,272,312 43,503,250
assistance given
Percentage 76 77 72 76 77
Source: Namal Records.
Butt and Hemani 205

Figure 2.  Student Applications and Enrolment

Source: Namal Records.

Board of Governors
Finding the Right People
In 2009, Mr Imran approached his friends and other influential members of the community to form
the Board of Governors for Namal College. The first few individuals with whom he discussed the idea
of establishing a technical college were Mr Rehman Mir and Mr Rashid Khan. Mr Rashid Khan, an
educationist and prominent businessman, was also a trustee of MDT and was fully supportive of Namal
and its vision for a technical college. Mr Rehman Mir,8 a philanthropist and businessman, was one of the
initial donors for the college (Table 3 and 4).
Soon after the affiliation with Bradford, Mr Imran’s sister Ms Aleema Khan, the entrepreneur owner of
Cotton Connection Private Ltd. and Marketing Director at Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital9 (SKMH)
joined Namal’s board. Next, Mr Imran asked Mr Abdul Razak Dawood, a leading entrepreneur, industrialist
and the founder and Rector of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), to come on board.
Mr Razak and Mr Imran went back a long way. Mr Imran had worked closely with Mr Razak while
building SKMH. Recalling his days at SKMH, Mr Razak stated:
At SKMH, I suggested that while Khan’s family members stay on the board, we, the outsiders should stay for two
terms of 5 years each. So, then when my terms ended I told Imran that I had to go. He was very upset but I told
him I have to go because I was the one who put this clause in the constitution of the hospital. If I don’t abide by
it, then everybody else will start breaking other rules too.

Soon after Mr Razak joined, Dr Arif Butt, Professor and Dean of Suleman Dawood School of Business
at LUMS, also became part of Namal. Right from the onset, Mr Razak, Ms Aleema and Dr Arif played
an active role in overlooking Namal’s management along with fulfilling other responsibilities.
206 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

Ms Aleema shared her brother’s passion for the cause and remained actively engaged in fundraising
initiatives for Namal. For her, being part of Namal’s Board meant:

It is the passion that drives most of us. You don’t get paid for it but the feeling that one can contribute is most
satisfying.

A senior official commented on Mr Razak’s role:

Mr Razak is the main driving force on the board. The amount of time and effort he gives for Namal is
outstanding. He plays the key decision-making role, especially in financial and budgetary matters. He also
works very closely with the University of Bradford and is the key person overlooking Namal’s construction
plans.

Commenting on the role of Dr Arif, a senior executive said:

Dr Arif has played a vital role in Namal. He serves as a fatherly role for the students and handles even the toughest
situations very calmly. His initiatives in attracting like-minded people to join Namal, giving directions for academ-
ics and vision for the institution are crucial for the organization.

By 2009, other eminent members such as Dr Pervez Hassan, a senior advocate of the Supreme Court,
joined Namal’s board. Dr Pervez Hassan played a leading role in all the legal matters at Namal College.
Later that year, Mr Taher Nawaz, a chartered accountant by profession, also joined the board. It was
with his assistance that Namal College and Imran Khan Foundation (IKF) were registered as charitable
organizations in the United Kingdom and were able to generate funds. In 2010, Dr Rashid Amjad,
the former Chief Economist of Pakistan Planning Commission, also came on board and provided a
steering role for the academics of the college. Further, Dr Atta-ur-Rahman, the former Chairman of
Higher Education Commission (HEC), was a welcoming addition to the board. In one of his interviews,
Dr Atta-ur-Rehman mentioned:

I joined the Namal Board of Governors because providing educational opportunities in a place which was
deprived of such privileges was a dream envisioned by Imran Khan. The objective was to build a university
encompassing international standards. I am fully confident that Namal will play a significant role in providing
education of global standards and will polish the skills and talents of students and provide educational opportuni-
ties to students from far-flung areas. Namal’s vision will be definitely fulfilled.

In the same year, Mr Sikander Mustafa, an industrialist and board member at LUMS, also became part
of Namal. Commenting on the role of Dr Atta-ur-Rehman and Mr Sikandar Mustafa, one of the senior
personnel at Namal said:

We are privileged to have Dr Atta-ur-Rehman with us on Namal’s Board. He is always available when needed.
Also, Mr Sikander plays a very active role in Namal.

Hence, over the course of time, the board expanded to include many prominent and well-reputed
individuals from diverse fields. However, there were some who remained more involved in Namal.
Mr Razak, Ms Aleema, Mr Sikander and Dr Arif formed the management committee (MC) of Namal
that ensured smooth functioning and operation of the college. Aleema described the role of the MC in
the past two years:
Butt and Hemani 207

We sit every week or every few days whenever the need arises. Sometimes we sit for 6-7 hours discussing
critical issues.

The people within the organization believed in the board, as commented by one of the managers:

The board of Namal is a mixture of the core teams of LUMS and SKMH – they are people who created these two
institutions. And these are all like-minded individuals working passionately towards a common goal.

Further, one of the most recent members of the board was Ms Alison Darbrough, who had served in the
position of the Director of Academic Administration at the UOB for seventeen years. Since the beginning
of Namal’s affiliation with Bradford, Alison acted as the representative of Bradford and significantly
assisted in developing the academics at Namal. Later, in 2013, when she retired from Bradford, Namal’s
board decided to hire her as a consultant for the college. Initially, she kept visiting Mianwali every other
month until she joined Namal permanently as the director of the college. Commenting on Ms Alison’s
role, Ms Aleema pointed out:

Alison provided a critical as well as an outsider’s perspective that was sometimes overlooked by us.

Alison’s role was crucial in maintaining education standards and developing new international
partnerships for the college. Commenting on her motivation, Mr Razak stated:

Alison’s commitment to Namal was outstanding. She was comfortably living in England. She gave up all that
to come to Namal.

With the creation of the board, Mr Imran’s primary role in Namal was to provide vision and motivation
and overlook fundraising initiative. In one of the interviews, Mr Imran elaborated on his vision for Namal:

The sole purpose behind building Namal College in Pakistan was to provide higher education and a platform for
the underprivileged talented students in villages, small cities and lower-income households who lacked opportu-
nities to avail education. It was not only ensured that Namal University provided international quality education
to its students but also free education to those who were incapable of financing their tuition fee.

The board met on a quarterly basis while the members of the MC met more frequently and as and
when required. The MC met on a monthly basis and was involved in administrative decision-making.
The MC was also responsible for hiring and firing of personnel from each department. Further, due to
undermanning of specialist functions such as HR, finance and fundraising, the MC was taking most of
the macro- and micro-level decisions.

Challenges and Way Forward

Surviving in the Midst of Adversity
Since its establishment, Namal’s journey had not been easy. First, the remote rural location of Namal
created infrastructure, logistics and accommodation issues for the faculty, students and staff. Namal was
distantly situated from the main city. The closest commercial area offering access to basic utilities was
20 to 30 minutes away. Facilities like electricity, health, accommodation, transportation, internet and
208 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

Table 3.  Brief Sketch of Board of Governors

Mr Abdul Razak Dawood Vice Chairman, Namal College

Rector, LUMS
Chairman, DESCON GROUP

Dr Parvez Hassan Board Member, Namal College

Advocate, Supreme Court
Senior Partner, Hassan and Hassan
Advocates Pakistan

Ms Aleema Khanum Board Member, Namal College

Board Member, Shaukat Khanam
Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre

Professor Dr Rashid Amjad Board Member, Namal College

Vice Chancellor, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics
Former Chief Economist
Pakistan Planning Commission (2008-2010)

Ms Alison Darnbrough Board Member, Namal College

Former Director of Academic Administration,
University of Bradford
Former Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions,
University of Surrey

Mr Rashid Khan Board Member, Namal College

Educationist and prominent businessman
Butt and Hemani 209

Professor Dr Arif Nazir Butt Board Member, Namal College

Dean, Suleman Razak School of Business,
LUMS Founding Director, Progressive Education Network

Mr Rehman Mir Board Member, Namal College

Philanthropist
Prominent Businessman

Professor Dr Atta Ur Rehman Board Member, Namal College

Former Chairman, Higher Education Commission,
Pakistan (2002-2008)
Former Federal Minister of Science and
Technology (2000-2002)

Mr Sikander Mustafa Board Member, Namal College

Chairman, Millat Tractors
Board Member, LUMS

Mr Imran Khan Chairman, Namal College

Founding Chairman, Board of Governors at
Shaukat Khanam Memorial Cancer Hospital and Research Centre

Mr Taher Nawaz Board Member, Namal College

Practicing Chartered Accountant, UK

Source: www.namal.edu.pk
Note: The profiles of Board members appear in alphabetical order.
Table 4.  Detailed Profiles of Board of Governors

1. IMRAN KHAN: Chairman, Mr Imran Khan received his early education from the Aitchison College in Lahore and the Royal Grammar School Worcester
Namal College in England. In 1972, he enrolled in Keble College, Oxford where he studied Philosophy, Politics and Economics and graduated
with Honours. His passion for cricket led him to Pakistan’s national cricket team. As the team captain, he led Pakistan to the
1992 cricket world cup victory. In 1994, he established a cancer hospital ‘Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital (SKMH)’ to
provide free cancer treatment. In 1996, he entered politics and also formed his political party ‘Pakistan-Tehreek-i-Insaaf’ (PTI).
His philanthropic interests led him towards the establishment of the Imran Khan Foundation (IKF) to improve the quality of
life for the underprivileged communities. Mr Khan received various awards and honours including the Chancellorship of UOB
(2005), Pakistan Civil Award ‘Hilal-i-Imtiaz’ (1992), Honorary Fellowship by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh (2012),
Humanitarian Award at the Asian Sports Awards in Kuala Lumpur (2007) and many others.
2. ABDUL RAZAK DAWOOD: Mr Razak completed his Engineering from England and did his MBA from Columbia University, US. He founded the Descon
Vice Chairman, Namal College Engineering group and took the company from a start-up with 4 engineers to more than 1,600 engineers and professionals
(employee strength reaching 40,000) and competing internationally. Descon has fifteen businesses in engineering, chemicals
and power under their portfolio with 0.9 million man hours/year of engineering capacity and 72 million man hours/year of
construction capacity. Mr Razak has also served as the former Federal Minister for Commerce, Industries and Production,
Government of Pakistan, for four years. He is the Chairman of Pakistan Business Council and Managing Director of Descon
Engineering Limited and six other private companies. His former corporate positions include CEO Razak Hercules Chemicals
and Managing Director Lawrencepur Woollen & Textile. He has also served on the boards of various corporate giants such as
ICI Pakistan, KSB Pumps, United Refrigeration Ltd, Pakistan International Airlines and State Bank of Pakistan. He has taught at
Department of Business Administration of the University of Punjab and has served as a member of the Syndicate and the Senate.
He has been an active philanthropist and is currently serving as the Rector of Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS),
Vice Chairman for Board of Governors of National Management Foundation and a trustee of CARE Foundation.
3. ALEEMA KHANUM Aleema Khanum received her MBA from the LUMS in 1989. She is a philanthropist and entrepreneur. She is the owner of Cotton
Connection Private Ltd. It is a buying office which sources textiles for overseas customers from a diverse range of vendor base.
A philanthropist in her own right, she has played a vital role as the Director for Marketing at the Shaukat Khanum Memorial
Trust. She is on the boards of numerous other charitable organizations, including the Hameed Muggo Trust and the South Asian
Association of Home Based Workers. She actively supports Mr Khan on his PTI ventures, as well as in other IKF projects.
4. PROFESSOR DR ARIF Dr Arif Butt completed his PhD in Management from the McGill University, Canada, MBA from the LUMS, Lahore, and MS in
NAZIR BUTT Engineering from the Georgia Institute of Technology, USA, and Bachelor of Science from the University of Texas, Austin. He is
an educationalist who has taught at the LUMS for over 20 years. He is currently the Dean of the Business School at LUMS where
he teaches Management Courses. He regularly teaches the executive management programmes and has published numerous
papers in international journals and lectured at several international conferences on subjects ranging on Management and
Leadership.
(Table 4 continued)
(Table 4 continued)

5. DR PARVEZ HASAN Dr Pervez Hassan obtained his Doctor of Laws from Harvard University, a Master of Laws from Yale University and a Bachelor
of Laws and Bachelor of Arts from Punjab University. He is a senior Partner at Hassan and Hassan (Advocates), Pakistan and
a Senior Advocate in the Supreme Court of Pakistan. He has a wide range of international awards and honours, primarily in
the field of environmental law. He has extensive affiliations with the Government of Pakistan. He even drafted the Pakistan
Environmental Protection Ordinance, 1983. He was a member of the Pakistan Environmental Protection Council, Pakistan
Marine Pollution Control Board (1994), Chair of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources
(IUCN) Legal Panel that drafted the Pakistan Environmental Protection Act (1997) and the Acting Chairman of the All Pakistan
Lawyers National Co-ordination Committee. He pioneered and led environmental protection and sustainable development
issues in Pakistan for over three decades. He has a wide range of past and present regional and international affiliations, including
Consultant to Asian Development Bank (Manila), Consultant to United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and
the Pacific (UN ESCAP) (Bangkok), Co-Chairman with Ambassador Tommy Koh, Advisory Committee, Asia–Pacific Centre for
Environmental Law (National University of Singapore), Member of the Asia Pacific Forum on Environment and Development.
He was IUCN Regional Councillor for West Asia (1984–1987), Deputy Chair of the Commission on Environmental Law
(1989–1990), Chair of Commissions (1993–1996), Legal Advisor (1994–1996) and Chair of Statutes Review Committee (1994–
1996) and was instrumental in the successful adoption of the revised statutes by the IUCN World Conservation Congress in
Montreal (1996). He was a member of the Steering Committee, Commission on Environmental Law (1996–2004) and Chair
of the Commission on Environmental Law (1990–1996), where under his leadership, the IUCN Draft International Covenant
on Environment and Development was finalized and launched at the UN General Assembly in 1995. Dr Hassan also led the
establishment of regional capacity building centres for environmental law and was the co-founder of the Asia–Pacific Centre of
Environmental Law in Singapore.12
6. PROFESSOR DR ATTA-UR- Professor Dr Atta-Ur-Rahman is a renowned scientist and internationally renowned for his works in natural product chemistry.
REHMAN He got his MSc in Organic Chemistry from Karachi University and a PhD from Cambridge. He has more than 800 publications in
the field of organic chemistry. He is the primary scientist from the Muslim world to have won the important UNESCO Science
Prize in 1999 in the history of the Prize. He was also chosen as Fellow of Royal Society (London) in July 2006 and was rewarded
Tamgha-e-Imtiaz in 1983, Sitara-e-Imtiaz in 1991, Hilal-e-Imtiaz in 1998 as well as Nishan-e-Imtiaz in the year 2002 by the Pakistani
government. Dr Atta Ur Rahman is popularly known for his role in Ministry for science and technology and for creating Higher
Education Commission (HEC) which took various important decisions to promote higher education in Pakistan. He is also credited
with establishing a strong research culture in institutes of higher education based on internationally recognized principles.13
(Table 4 continued)
(Table 4 continued)

7. PROFESSOR DR RASHID Dr Rashid Amjad graduated from Government College, Lahore, and did his Tripos in Economics (BA Hons) and doctorate
AMJAD (PhD) from the University of Cambridge. He was Director, Policy Planning and Employment Sector at the International Labour
Organization (ILO), Geneva. He was also the Chief and principal author of the ILO’s World Employment Report (WER)
1998–1999 and joint author of the WER 2001. He has worked and published extensively on Pakistan’s employment, HRD, labour
market and poverty issues. ‘Management of the Pakistan Economy 1947-82’ was among his well-known published works.14 He
even served as the chief executive of Pakistan Planning Commission from 2008 to 2010. Currently, he is the Vice Chancellor of
Pakistan Institute of Development Economics.
8. MR SIKANDAR MUSTAFA Mr Sikandar Mustafa is qualified as a Mechanical Engineer from NED University of Engineering & Technology, Karachi in 1967.
He has a postgraduate diploma from the University of New-Castle upon Tyne, UK (1969) and Masters’ Degree & Diploma in
Production Engineering (DIC) from Imperial College of Science and Technology, London University (1970). He is currently
serving on the boards of several public and private sector companies, including the Board of Habib Bank Limited, the largest
private sector bank of Pakistan. He has varied experience in the Automotive and Engineering Industry and had been associated
with it since 1972. He was the Vice President of Lahore Chamber of Commerce & Industry for the period from October 1997
to September 1998. He was appointed as the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Millat Tractors Limited (MTL) in
October 1985 and was elected as Chairman of the Board in 1991. In pursuance of the Privatization Policy of the Government,
he successfully led his team for the Employee Buy-out of MTL. He is also the Chairman of Millat Group Companies including two
associated companies—Bolan Castings Limited & Millat Equipment Limited and Millat Industrial Products Limited—as a subsidiary
of Millat Tractors Limited.
9. ALISON DARNBROUGH Alison Darnbrough received her Bachelor of Arts in Art History & Italian from the University of Hull, UK, before joining the
University of Manchester, where she completed her postgraduate diploma in Art Gallery and Museum Studies to qualify as a
curator. She is a new addition to the board. She has over seventeen years’ experience in higher education in the UK serving
as the Director of Academic Administration at the UOB and the Director of Marketing, Recruitment and Admissions at the
University of Surrey (Roehampton). In addition to her educational work, she is an art curator and writer. Her areas of special
interest and research are British and Pakistani contemporary art. She has written articles and reviews in magazines and journals
internationally and has been a contributor to the biographies of Pakistani artists Iqbal Husain and Nahid Raza. In 2008, she
curated the first exhibition of a British artist to be held at the National Art Gallery, Islamabad. She has also organized exhibitions
in the UK and the US. Over the last ten years, she has been involved in a number of peace education initiatives internationally
and in developing cross-cultural links around the world.
Source: www.namal.edu.pk
Butt and Hemani 213

Table 5. Province wise Public and Private Universities

Province Public Sector Private Sector Total

Federal Capital 13 03 16
Punjab 22 21 43
Sindh 15 24 39
KPK 16 10 26
Baluchistan 05 01  6
AJK 02 02  4
Gilgit-Baltistan 01  0  1
Source:  http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/Divisions/LearningInnovation/Documents/PROVINCE%
20WISE%20UNIVERSITIES%20IN%20PAKISTAN.pdf

other amenities were considered a luxury for those living in Mianwali. Further, Namal’s expansion plans
had also come to a standstill due to the delays in land allotment. The best that Namal could offer at this
point was to accommodate students in a rented government college building and find accommodation for
faculty in the nearby areas, which was also 40 minutes’ drive from the campus.
The aforementioned issues created several challenges for Namal’s leadership—the foremost being the
difficulty in attracting and retaining quality faculty. Namal was initially established as a vocational train-
ing institute and had recruited its first cohort of faculty from the local village who were qualified for
teaching in a technical institute. Later, when Namal evolved into a degree-awarding college, the qualifi-
cations of the existing faculty did not match the requirements of a university undergraduate programme.
As a result, Namal faced several issues in terms of hiring PhD faculty while laying off some faculty
members and acquiring new and more qualified teaching staff. To be able to attract top faculty was one
of Mr Razak’s primary concerns for Namal:

The only way anybody would go to Mianwali is if we provide them with a fabulous environment. We provide
schooling for their children, funding for their research, lively environment on the campus, best accommodation
and everything that their children required. Students will come and go but faculty will stay there. You need to
attract good faculty to make a long-lasting impact.

Namal’s campus expansion, construction and infrastructural development along with financial
constraints was yet another aspect. Numerous construction challenges existed due to the hilly terrain
and uneven landscape. In the absence of a plane land, construction was difficult and drainage was tricky.
For instance, the distance between the lake and the hill was just one kilometre, which meant cutting the
hill or adjusting construction in the available width. The remoteness of the area further added to the
construction challenge as well as the cost. ‘Only the cost of building a laboratory was approximately
PKR 15 million’, as pointed out by Ms Aleema.
Hence, at this point, funding was required not only to sustain operational expenses and scholarships
but also for construction and expansion. Needless to say, this required exorbitant amounts of funds. As
of 2014, payables to scholarship, construction and endowment fund were estimated to be over
PKR 49 million. Fundraising had its own challenges. First, most donors wanted to fund the scholarships
rather than the operational expenses. Second, higher education still remained a second priority for many
214 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

philanthropists in Pakistan who saw primary/secondary education, health and poverty alleviation initia-
tives as more urgent social issues.
While the strategic, financial and legal issues demanded the board’s utmost time and attention, the
members found themselves occupied with addressing the operational and management challenges. ‘Time
and again, we were dragged into taking care of management related issues’, as Dr Arif explained. One
such instance was when Namal’s diploma students transitioned to the degree programme. During that
phase, students had several concerns about their curriculum and future at Namal. That was the time when
Mr Khan and Dr Arif travelled to Namal to meet the students and to motivate them to work towards
achieving the degree rather than a diploma.
Later, in 2012, Namal faced yet another challenge when the Vice Chancellor (VC) decided to leave.
The VC of Namal, Dr Shah,10 had a different vision from that of the board and, hence, he decided to leave
Namal. In the absence of the VC, the management structure was crippling and Namal’s leadership was
finding it harder to find a head for the institution. In the absence of the VC, Ms Alison Darnbrough was
asked to serve as the Director (Head of Namal College) and Dr Malik Jahan11 as the Dean of the College.
Subsequently, the board proposed that particularly at this stage, Namal should strive for a more
visible vision and focus on achieving excellence in the rural context. The board’s Vision Committee
deliberated and came up with a vision statement: ‘To become the centre of rural excellence’. The
board unanimously agreed that the vision for a knowledge city could only be achieved once Namal
was able to achieve and actualize excellence and academic rigour within the existing ambit. The
board members agreed that the vision of ‘knowledge city’ would perhaps go beyond the lifetime of
the founder members; the vision, for now, should act as a binding and unifying force. The board
members, however, had to communicate this understanding of Namal’s vision to the stakeholders
such that it would strengthen the belief in Namal and take the organization forward.
The board was also concerned about acquiring its own degree-awarding status. While Bradford’s
affiliation was Namal’s core strength, the board firmly believed that acquiring its own degree-awarding
status was integral for Namal to achieve its long-term vision. At this point, Namal had applied for its own
degree-awarding status but the approval remained pending. Mr Razak also contemplated as to what
could be Namal’s competitive advantage in terms of fulfilling the gap in higher education in Pakistan.
He recalled the following conversation with the board members:

What can be our competitive advantage out there? Why not become an agribusiness school which would only
talk of things related to agriculture; farming, orchards, livestock, mechanical engineering biased towards agri-
culture products, agriculture machinery…There are no canals here, all crops are rain fed. So, why can’t we teach
water management here? Now the liability can become an asset. If we have an agri-business school we can easily
find a 500-acre farm nearby, where will you find one in Lahore? How to set up the school, get faculty and know
how; however, is a challenge.

As Mr Razak reflected over these issues, he thought that the list of challenges that the emerging institution
was facing was exhaustive. Nonetheless, the passion and drive shared by the board members were
phenomenal. The question was how to capitalize on Namal’s strengths and move forward. At this hour,
his concern was how each member could play an individual as well as a collective role in addressing
these challenges. Mr Razak reflected:

Now Namal has plenty of land. The Mianwali airport is just 20 KM away from the university and
the main road to Mianwali goes past the university; there are many disadvantages that could be turned into
advantages. However, how to put the right things in place is now the question that needed to be addressed by
the board.
Butt and Hemani 215

Looking to the Future

In August 2014, Mr Razak’s major concern was how to strengthen governance at Namal. The departure of
the VC had resulted in a vacuum in the management at Namal. The board faced the challenge of finding
the right VC. As commented by Dr Arif, ‘Finding the right VC is a challenge for many universities in
Pakistan’. Further, given the infrastructure, accommodation, logistic, health and academic challenges,
the faculty and students questioned the vision of building knowledge city—which seemed not only
distant but also unbelievable at this point. The board emphasized on notions of ‘centre of excellence’
with values of merit and academic rigour while the VC thought Namal could not achieve that. It was the
board’s task now to communicate Namal’s vision clearly.
Mr Razak contemplated on how to effectively govern the institution? He was aware that few of the
board members were actively involved while others were unable to give as much time. Further, at many
levels, the board had been intervening in management issues—Namal already had an MC, which
overlooked most administrative and operational issues. ‘Was this how it should continue?’, deliberated
Mr Razak. At this point, what should be the ideal role for the board—strategic or operational? Should
new task forces or committees be created? Who should be part of those committees? What were the pros
or cons of such a move in the overarching organizational context?
‘Taking Namal forward to become the nation’s pride’—how to achieve that significantly depended on
the board’s effectiveness, direction and leadership. The high unmet demand for higher education has
resulted in the mushrooming of street institutions. It has become much easier for the institutes to get
affiliation with certain newly chartered universities here or abroad. These institutes have neither proper
infrastructure nor qualified faculty to cater to the needs of students. As a result, there are huge numbers
of degree holders being produced that are not capable of meeting the employer needs on the job market.
This lack of synergy between academia and industry remains another major concern. Due to the quality
and relevance of research work being done in the country, technology transfer from universities to
companies remains a weak link. For example, there is almost zero research being executed in the
pharmaceutical industry (excluding herbal and natural medicines).

Declaration of Conflicting Interests

The authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship and/or publication
of this article.

Funding
The authors received no financial support for the research, authorship and/or publication of this article.

APPENDIX
Higher Education in Pakistan
In Pakistan, higher education refers to education above Grade 12, which generally corresponds to the age
bracket of 17 to 23 years. The higher education system in Pakistan is made up of two main sectors: the
University/Degree Awarding Institutes (DAI) sector and the Affiliated Colleges sector.15
The Pakistan higher education sector is predominantly public in nature, with almost 75 per cent of the
students enrolled in public sector institutions. There are 89 universities in the public sector with a total
enrolment of 392,893 in 2013. All fundings to the public sector universities are provided by the Higher
216 Asian Journal of Management Cases 16(2)

Education Commission. There are sixty-nine private sector universities/Degree Awarding Institutions. In
2013, there were 158 universities and DAIs and 1,995 affiliated colleges. Student enrolment in higher
education institutes was estimated at 1.2 million in 2013 with 54 per cent males and 46 per cent females.16
Public higher education institutes generally offer a wide range of courses and programmes such as
agriculture, arts and design, medicines, while private higher education institutes predominantly offer a
narrow range of vocationally oriented courses and programmes such as business and IT. Leading public
universities include National University of Science and Technology Islamabad (NUST), Quaid-e-Azam
University Islamabad, Ghulam Ishaq Khan Institute of Engineering Sciences and Technology, University
of Engineering & Technology Lahore, University of Agriculture Faisalabad and a few others.
In the private sector, The Agha Khan University was the first university to be established in 1983
followed by LUMS in 1985 comprising schools of humanities and social sciences, business, law and
science and engineering. It has established itself as one of the best business schools in Pakistan. The
private sector in higher education provides opportunities left over of public sector universities. Before
the entrance of the private sector, a large number of students who failed to get admission in public
universities went abroad or gave up further education. However, these universities mostly cater to the
high-income sections of the country and remain skewed in the main cities of Lahore, Karachi, Islamabad,
Peshawar and Faisalabad.
The standard of education in the public sector, which produces over 75 per cent of the graduates,
especially in science and technology, is quite modest. Quality of faculty at private and especially public
universities remains an important issue. With less than 25 per cent of teachers having a PhD degree,
PhD deficit in the faculty continues to be a major concern.17 Furthermore, the process of hiring teachers,
especially in the public sector remains influenced by political pressures at various levels.
Most of the buildings in the public sector are old and poorly maintained. Decades of under-investment
in higher education have led to the under-development of the physical infrastructure of universities. The
total GDP percentage of higher education expenditure in 2011–2012 was 0.19 per cent. On the other
hand, countries like India are spending almost 3.85 per cent of their GDP on higher education.18 Share of
higher education in educational expenditure in Pakistan is around 12–13 per cent of the total educational
budget whereas the international average is around 30 per cent.
As a result, Pakistan has one of the lowest ratios in the world, of people having access to higher educa-
tion in the country. Only 5.1 per cent of people aged 17–23 years are currently enrolled in higher education
in Pakistan.19 Accessibility issues are due to the skewed presence of higher education in the country. In all,
31 per cent of the higher education institutes are located in Punjab and only 2.9 per cent in Baluchistan.
Even within the major provinces of Punjab and Sindh, the presence of universities and DAIs remain
concentrated in the major cities. More than 70 per cent of universities are located in a few cities whereas
the majority of the population lives in smaller cities, towns and rural areas. Respectively, 64 per cent public
and 82 per cent private universities and DAIs are situated in these six cities, as shown in Table 5.

Notes
  1. Imran Khan was Pakistan’s most successful cricket captain, leading his country to victory at the 1992 Cricket
World Cup, playing for the Pakistani cricket team from 1971 to 1992. With 3,807 runs and 362 wickets in Test
cricket, he is one of eight world cricketers to have achieved an ‘All-rounder’s Triple’ in Test matches.
  2. Imran Khan’s philanthropic efforts include the creation of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Hospital for treating
cancer patients and Imran Khan Foundation for assisting the underprivileged and needy through financial, logis-
tic and developmental interventions.
  3. Imran Khan is currently the chairman of the political party called Pakistan-Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) which has
formed government in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Butt and Hemani 217

  4. Mianwali (population: 110,359 people) is the capital city of Mianwali District, Pakistan. It is in the northwest of
Punjab province on the eastern bank of the Indus River.
  5 Dhaba is a local term for a small roadside café.
  6 MDT was created with the aim of developing the Mianwali district and addressing its impending needs.
  7. About 90 per cent of the students were admitted on financial aid.
  8. Rehman Mir was an active Board member in the initial years, In fact, given his contribution; it was also being
contemplated that the technical college would be named as ‘Rehman Mir Technical College’. However, his
involvement in Namal began to decrease with time due to his personal business commitments. Nonetheless, he
remained an active contributor for fund raising through his Dubai-based office.
  9. SKMH was built in 1994 to provide free cancer treatment to the underprivileged of the country. SKMH was
known as a state-of-the-art facility spread over 20 acres of land in the city of Lahore.
10. The name of the Vice Chancellor has been disguised to maintain confidentiality.
11. Dr Malik Jahan belonged to the Namal village and obtained a Masters and PhD from LUMS.
12. http://gnhre.org/patrons/parvez-hassan/
13. http://www.amazingpakistanis.com/dr-atta-ur-rahman.html
14. siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPAKISTAN/.../ParticipantsProfile.pdf
15. http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/Resources/2782001121703274255/1439264-1193249163062/
Pakistan_countrySummary.pdf
16. www.hec.gov.pk
17. www.hec.gov.pk
18. http://www.ugc.ac.in/ugcpdf/208844_HEglance2012.pdf
19. http://www.aaj.tv/2011/02/pakistan-has-lowest-ratio-of-access-to-higher-education-na-told/

References
HEC Website
Hoodboy, Pervez. Pakistan’s higher education system-what went wrong and how to fix it. The Pakistan Development
Review, 4, 581–594. Retrieved from http://pide.org.pk/pdr/index.php/pdr/article/viewFile/2643/2610
World Bank. Country summary higher education in Pakistan. Retrieved from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/
EDUCATION/Resources/278200-1121703274255/1439264-1193249163062/Pakistan_countrySummary.pdf
Isani, Usman. Higher education in Pakistan. National University of Modern Languages. Retrieved from http://
eprints.hec.gov.pk/403/1/233.html.htm
Pakistan has lowest ratio of access to higher education: NA Told. Aaj News, 23 February 2011. Retrieved from http://
www.aaj.tv/2011/02/pakistan-has-lowest-ratio-of-access-to-higher-education-na-told/
http://prr.hec.gov.pk/Chapters/575S-5.pd