Dhirubhai was born on December 28, 1932, to Hirachand Govardhandas Ambani and Jamunaben Hirachand Ambani. He was the middle of five children, three boys and two girls (Refer Exhibit II for the Dhirubhai family tree). His father was a local school teacher in a village called Chorwad in the Junagadh district of Gujarat. After his matriculation in 1949, Dhirubhai left for Aden, (now in Yemen) at the young age of 17. His first job was to fill gas and collect money at a Shell petrol station, earning Rs 300 a month. Within a few years, he rose to the position of a sales manager (Refer Exhibit III for Chronology of Events) in the same company.
After working for eight years in Aden, Dhirubhai decided to come back to India and start something on his own. On December 31, 1958, he came back to Mumbai and started the Reliance Commercial Corporation (RCC) with a borrowed capital of Rs.15,000.
RCC was mainly involved in exporting commodities like ginger, cardamom, pepper, turmeric, and cashewnut. Using his connections in Aden, he exported a wide range of commodities to Aden. Aden, being a free port attracted lot of exports. In the mid 1960s, the Government of India (GoI) introduced an export promotion scheme under which the earnings from the export of rayon fabrics could be used for the import of nylon fiber. This attracted Dhirubhai's attention and he decided to switch from spices to textiles. In 1966, he set up a spinning mill at Naroda 20 kms from Ahmedabad with borrowed funds of Rs 2,80,000 and registered it (Reliance Textile Industries) as a powerloom unit with a paid up capital of Rs 150,000...
Another program, the High Unit Value Scheme introduced by the GoI in 1971 gave tremendous boost to Reliance textiles. The scheme allowed the import of polyester filament yarn against the export of nylon fabrics. RCC was benefited the most from this scheme and its exports constituted more than 60% of exports under this scheme. There were rumors that the scheme was solely devised for Dhirubhai. Dhirubhai strongly denied the allegations saying that Reliance cannot be blamed for taking advantage of the scheme ‘when others kept their eyes shut.’ He said “I do not consider myself cleverer than my colleagues in the industry. If there was a very large margin of profit, why did they not take advantage of it?”
TAKE A LOOK AROUND: Companies seek to train their own and the MBAs may have the short end of the stick
What do the three letters MBA stand for? We all know the answer, but late Dhirubhai Ambani had his own unique take on it: ‘Mane Bhadhu Aave che’, which in Gujarati means, I know everything. He himself did not go to college. Some say education is killed by degrees; Dhirubhai’s older son Mukesh Ambani dropped out from his MBA programme at Stanford after his first year, returning to assist his father. Mukesh has since taken Reliance to new heights and in the process made himself one of the richest men in the world.
Of course, MBAs have their uses. But there is a new reality on hand: the business of making money has got more complicated, and newer ways of making a pile, too, have emerged. You can practise at the theoretical level, and be good at it like MBAs usually are. Many join firms such as McKinsey and KPMG, which do just that. Or you theorise at the practical level, and help firms and all their stakeholders make money.
The second option seems to be emerging as a good choice. More and more companies are opting to take on candidates who are not MBAs, and grooming them. Why so? Take the banking sector: it is currently estimated to employ 900,000 people and this number is expected to grow to 1.5 million over the next five years. A recent survey by McKinsey made this key point. Indian banks have had access to better talent than other global banks, leading to superior organisation performance on average. However, it is well known that incumbents suffer from a severe lack of specialist skills and new-age leaders. “They need to act urgently to attract, hire,
develop and retain the best available talent to ensure sustained growth in the long term,” says the McKinsey survey. While not all these jobs require an MBA, even meeting the desired number is proving to be a near impossible task
“We try to get in diverse skills, and tap various segments of the entry-level market such as B-schools and CAs,” says Madhavi Lall, head of human resources at Standard Chartered Bank (StanChart). “We are also exploring recruiting engineers with analytical skills to understand banking products. Other non-conventional talent pools such as housewives and part-timers are also being tapped. We recruit on the basis of skills rather than just academic qualifications.”
“We employ individuals and, as a result, we have human material to work with; we don’t employ a particular educational background,” seconds Oscar Rosendahl, global head of HR at A.P. Moller-Maersk Group. “People are fundamentally difficult to change. Therefore, we seek to identify people who have been successful in functioning and developing the tasks they are set.”
Quotes for Dhirubhai Ambani
"The country has lost an iconic proof of what an ordinary Indian fired by the spirit of enterprise and driven by determination, can achieve in his own lifetime. Not only did Ambani build a large and diversified business conglomerate but also inspired many first generation entrepreneurs with his success."
"Our dreams have to be bigger. Our ambition higher. Our commitment deeper. And our efforts greater. This is my dream for Reliance and for India."
"Dhirubhai built an empire that is rock solid and he will always remain an icon."
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