The Question & the Article
The article, as it is, seems impressive for its depth, breadth and its mastery through research of the particulars that constitute the topic at hand. Indeed, the article is muscular enough to use as reference material. Further, it is appreciated the extent to which the authors of the article have gone out of their way to be honest brokers of the information being presented.
The structure of the article, and its particulars, represent of themselves a notable roadmap, generic enough for use by any business entity considering entrée into Pakistan. To this readers understanding, the article addresses directly how a multinational market research plan can sidestep Pakistani pitfalls.
The article covers all the major factors: the heritage, history, geography, politics, power centers, needs, resources and commodities, literacy, and on and on. One of two ways immediately seen to improve upon this is to go into even greater depth (which may have been beyond the scope of the original writing) and offer up something akin to a database (of who was already there, in what capacity, how long, to what extent interested, etc.). Such extended focus becomes de rigueur (competition, setting, etc.) should we move in the direction of industry specifics.
Therefore, the article ostensibly addresses the question. However, having another go at a "forest for the trees" approach, one thing that the article did not address (the other suggested improvement) were the other BEMs (big emerging markets) in the neighborhood.
How does Pakistan fare when compared with India, China and Indonesia (to name a few of the more cogent comparison countries)? One could justifiably argue that taking all benefits and all detractors into consideration, and mapped out as metrics, that those three countries alone may well offer as good or better opportunities. All four countries offer low-cost labor, most offer a relatively literate workforce, the additional three seem to offer a greater governmental stability and India and Indonesia represent established democracies.
Concluding Thoughts
Please forgive any downside this author's assessment of the article may have implied. Again, one wish is to assure the reader that the article referred to was impressive (to this author). As far as global marketing plans go it seems one can readily see how valuable this document could prove as a sort of template.
As one adds considerations of a given region, as well as the implications of anything that might constitute industry specifics (such as competition, et. al.), it appears that all the necessary ingredients are present.
Not that anything is missing at this point, and a final thought would be one of formatting. For efficiency purposes, it would seem useful at a minimum to annotate; resources, statistics, etc. An alternative for efficiency (the annotations formatting) could be expressed through hyperlinks.
Reference
Khan, O. J., & Amine, L. S. (2004, Sep/Oct 2004). New international business perspectives on Pakistan. Thunderbird International Business Review, 46, 493. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/202785636?accountid=34899
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