Doctoral Student of the month - May 2012

Imran Nazir

Business Administration

Who are you and where are you from?

I am a doctoral candidate in Business Administration at the department of Entrepreneurship, Strategy, Organization and Leadership (ESOL) and I am a member of the Centre for Family Enterprise and Ownership (CeFEO). I am originally from Pakistan. I hold a Master´s Degree from the University of Derby, Derbyshire Business School, UK, and a Post-Graduate Diploma in Business Administration from the Cardiff Business School, UK. Prior to joining JIBS I worked as a Lecturer at the Derbyshire Business School, UK, and also as an Assistant Professor at the National University of Sciences and Technology (NUST), Pakistan. In 2008, I was invited and offered a scholarship to attend the International Faculty Development Program (IFDP) at IESE Business School, Barcelona, Spain.

How did you decide to become a doctoral student?

During my teaching job I was teaching courses on Strategy and Entrepreneurship at both undergraduate and master level. While teaching I became more and more interested in strategy development in entrepreneurial firms. Specifically, I was interested in the role of the entrepreneur and entrepreneurial family in charting the strategic direction of the firm.
With this research interest JIBS was an ideal place for me because of its high ranking in both entrepreneurship and family business research. Another factor that led me to join JIBS was its PhD programme structure where the doctoral students have the opportunity to teach while doing their PhD. For me, it´s an excellent opportunity to keep building my teaching portfolio.

What are your main research interests?

I am interested in the creation and evolution of firm capabilities in dynamic and high growth environments.  More specially, I am interested in how initial conditions foster or inhibit the development of capabilities in young entrepreneurial firms. I am doing this research on the budding Broadcast Media Sector in Pakistan.

What is the best thing with working at JIBS?

The best thing about working at JIBS is the research environment. I really like the open climate for discussion, both in the department and at our research centre. JIBS also provides me with ample opportunities to present my research at international conferences and to interact with researchers all over the world.

2012-05-04