The Higher Education Commission (HEC) has recently issued an NOC to GIFT University to start a PhD program in Management Sciences from Fall 2021. It is a big development in the region because Gujranwala is the 5th most populous metropolitan area in Pakistan but no institution was offering a doctoral program, causing students to relocate to Lahore or other larger and expensive cities for this purpose. Gujranwala is the third largest industrial city after Karachi and Faisalabad hosting more than 6,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and 25,000 cottage industry but, unfortunately, no significant research has scientifically addressed management challenges of this industrial community. We hope that this doctoral program will meet the increasing demand for a high-quality and affordable doctoral program in the region and will produce scientific knowledge about the management challenges of the local industry.