a story of Dhirubhai Ambani

1. Life story often known as
“Rags to Riches”

2. A Legendary Entrepreneur
• Dhirajlal Hirachand
Ambani
• Born on 28th Dec 1932
in Chorwad, Gujarat.
• Lived an undefeatable
life.
• Died on 6th July 2002.
“Think big, think fast, think
ahead. Ideas are no one‟s
monopoly”
- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

3. A Villager
• Always determined to do what he wanted to do, in exactly
the way he wanted it done.
• He sold „Bhajjias‟ to pilgrims on Mount Girnar during his
childhood.
• Dhirubhai campaigned for the Socialists and thus
became the secretary of Junagarh Students Union.
• After completing his matriculation at the age of 17 years
he moved to Aden, Yemen to support his family.
• Started working with A. Besse & Co. as a dispatch clerk.
“Don‟t give up , courage is my conviction.”- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

4. A Visionary
• He always looked for an opportunity.
• Temptation towards speculation.
• Melted rials into pure silver and sold it to the bullion
traders in London.
• He first sent to the commodities trading section &
later, transferred to the section that handled petroleum
products for the oil giant Shell.
• Moved in India to become an Entrepreneur in 1958.
"You do not require an invitation to make profits.“- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

5. A Winner
• Founded Reliance Commercial Corp. with cousin
Champaklal Damani with initial capital of Rs.15,000 in
1959.
• Dhirubhai sets up spinning mill near Ahmedabad on
capital of Rs. 15 lakhs in 1966.
• In 1977 Reliance Textile Industries issued IPO, 58000
investors participated.
• Dhirubhai sets up Reliance Petroleum at Jamnagar in
1988.
• In 2000 World's largest refinery complex was
"If you work with at Jamnagar.
commissioneddetermination and with perfection, success will follow.“
- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

6. Leadership Style
Autocratic
Democrati
c
Free Rein
(Dhirubhai)

8. The People‟s Man
• Dhirubhai followed an „‟open-door policy‟‟.Employees
could walk into his cabin and discuss their problems with
him.
• He was always inviting people into sharing their thoughts
and ideas, rather than shutting them out.
• Always there for his team and brought around confidence
in them. Famously known as „Arm-around-the-shoulder‟ leader.
• People s did much more than their capacities since they
had trust on him, and that they had him on their side.
“WE BET ON PEOPLE”- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

9. The Helper
• When things went wrong, he was the first person to
sense that the circumstances would have been beyond
his team's control, rather than it being a slip on their part.
• His first instinct was always to join his men in putting out
the fire and not crucifying them for it.
“Give the youth a proper environment. Motivate them. Extend them the
support they need. Each one of them has infinite source of energy. They
will deliver.”
- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

10. The Network strategist
• Using his connections in Aden, he exported a wide range
of commodities to Aden.
• To promote Vimal he launched Advertising program,
toured the entire country intensively offering franchises to
shareholders.
• Dhirubhai managed to create favorable centers in all the
important areas among the bureaucrats, the ruling
politicians, as well as the media.
“Business is nothing but a web of relationships and obligations”
- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

11. The Problem solver
• Received complains from the foreign exporters of which
he offered to forego payments, thus build a trust among
exporters and orders started growing.
• Dhirubhai faced resistance from cloth merchants, so he
decided to open his own showroom named Vimal.
• Dhirubhai announced the buy back scheme when the
polyester which he produced started loosing its demand.
"Pursue your goals even in the face of difficulties, and convert adversities into
opportunities.“ - DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

13. 1. Be a safety net for your
team.
• He gently asked his employees if
They needed any help in
combating the problems they
faced.
• Knowledge that he knew and
cared for what his team was
going through, and that he was
there for them if they needed him.
“He gave courage which we never knew we had”

14. 2. Change your
orbit, constantly!
• Dhirubhai's "orbit theory."
• When you change orbits, you
will create friction. The good
news is that your enemies
from your previous orbit will
never be able to reach you in
your new one. By the time
resentment builds up in your
new orbit, you should move to
the next level….
“Changing orbits is the key to
our progress as a nation”.
-DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

15. 3. Dream big, but dream with your eyes
open.
"It's difficult but not
impossible!“
-DHIRUBHAI AMBANI
• Whenever a task seemed too big to be
accomplished, he would reply: " No is no answer!"
Not only did he dream big, he taught all of us to do
so too.
• His favorite phrase “Dream with your eyes open"

16. 4. Money is not a product by itself, it is a
by-product, so don't chase it
• He did not breathe a word about
profits, nor about becoming the
richest
• A by-product is something that you
don't set out to produce. It is the spin
off when you create something larger.
"If you work with determination and with
perfection, success will follow.“
-DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

17. 5. Theory of Supply creating
Demand
• He was not an MBA nor an
economist. But yet he took
traditional market theory and
stood it on its head and
succeeded.
• When everyone in India would
build capacities only after a
careful study of market, he went
full steam ahead and created
giants of manufacturing plants
with unbelievable capacities.
“Our dreams have to
be bigger. Our
ambitions higher”.
-DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

18. Works Towards Society
• (DA-IICT)- Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and
Communication Technology - at Gandhinagar in Gujarat.
• Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital and medical
research Institute in Mumbai.
• Dhirubhai Ambani International School in Mumbai.
• He has established a sanatorium at
Chorwad, Gujarat, for the use of patients needing change
of climate and recuperation.
• Dwarka, a religious destination near Jamnagar, has been
a centre of attraction not only for pilgrims of the country
but also for archaeologists, historians and tourists from
all over the world. Relia

19. ACHIEVEMENTS
• Dhirubhai Ambani proved to be A King in his
Diversification.
• RIL is now India's largest Private Sector with turnover
over US$19.976 billion backed by a profit over US$2.03
billion.
• 25% of share holders in India own a RIL Script.
• Fortune Global 500 featured RIL in 342nd rank in 2006.
Forbes Global featured RIL at 295 spot in 2000.

20. • Chemtech and Chemical Engg. World gave the" Man of
the Century " award in Nov 2000 to Dhirubhai Ambani.
• Dhirubhai won the " Dean's Medal " of Wharton
School, University of Pennsylvania in June 1998 for "
Outstanding Leadership “.
• FICCI conferred the title " Man of 20th century " to
Dhirubhai Ambani in 2000.
• Times Of India in 2000 voted Dhirubhai Ambani as the
greatest creator of wealth in the country.
LISTS GOES ON…….

21. THANK YOU
"Our dreams have to be
bigger. Our ambitions higher.
Our commitment deeper. And
our efforts greater. This is my
dream for Reliance and for
India.“
- DHIRUBHAI AMBANI