RELIANCE - How Reliance has transformed India's business landscape - from Businessline 7 July 2020

How Reliance has transformed India's business landscape

G Ramachandran  | Updated on July 07, 2020  Published on July 06, 2020

From textiles to telecom, Reliance has transformed many sectors. Much of the credit for this goes to its founder’s spirit

Growth is life. Life is growth. Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani — also known as Dhirubhai — died on July 6, 2002. India has grown since then; so has Reliance Industries. The story of Dhirubhai and Reliance are tightly woven together by the same yarn. New strands are being added rapidly.

Reliance has come a long way since its past. It began as fibre. It is now growing itself into fiber — Jio Fiber. Some parts of the fibre in its digital network are not visible. But the wireless fiber is present inside the fabric or the network that Dhirubhai’s son, Mukesh Ambani, is weaving.

Unusual beginning

Dhirubhai began with yarn and then fabric. It was Reliance’s “Only Vimal” that grabbed the nation’s attention. Dhirubhai understood what India needed; and what Reliance needed. He took off on a backward integration adventure, blitz and binge. His yarn needed fibre.

Natural fibre needs organic chemicals, soil, water and manure. Dhirubhai knew cotton’s yield limitations. Cotton is an expensive fibre in the task of providing adequate lengths of fabric to clothe the millions. India needed inexpensive fabric. Dhirubhai chose inorganic chemicals and synthetic fabrics.

India needed style, too. Reliance understood style. It had to flourish as a customer-facing business-to-consumer (B2C) business. There is a big management lesson here for storytellers and strategy experts.

India had won the Prudential Cricket World Cup in 1983. The first three editions were held in England in 1975, 1979 and 1983. All three were sponsored by Prudential, a British global insurance group born in 1848.

Dhirubhai seized the moment and won the right to sponsor the 1987 Cricket World Cup in India, for the country and for the world. Reliance’s route to substance and style in its massive B2C entrepreneurial effort was cricket. The 1987 Championship was played in India and Pakistan. The final was played at the magnificent Eden Garden in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on November 8, 1987.

Dhirubhai handed the Reliance Cricket World Cup to Allan Border, the captain of the winning Australian team. Border batted extremely well and got two wickets. The first one remains unforgettable — he got the wicket of Mike Gatting, the captain of the losing team from England. Gotcha!

It is not a coincidence that Reliance’s door to a borderless world was opened by Allan Border. The 1987 Reliance World Cup was the last cup that could be sponsored. Reliance had arrived as a B2C company.

Growth of the business

Now, it is on to bigger adventures. Reliance Jio and Jio Fiber are the latest and the biggest. Perhaps, they are equal; so let’s unify them. Reliance Jio Fiber is the latest and the biggest.

Hence, fibre and fiber are the same as well. Yarn, thread, fibre, fabric, fiber and network are all the same, depending on how you see them. Fibre to fiber is the manifestation that determines what we see. Fibre to fiber is the determination of what the manifestation is.

Dhirubhai and Reliance make up a fine yarn, a story, an elaborate narration of a real adventure. A yarn becomes an epic when the hero goes the long distance. When Dhirubhai passed away in 2002, Reliance had entered the communications and information business. Refining was in its backyard.

It had taken deep a backward integration, as far back as possible. It became the world’s largest refiner of crude oil. That deep backward integration then pushed it into deep forward integration. Reliance is now in the big business of fuels.

A yarn becomes an epic. Then an epic becomes a saga. Reliance has become a master of deep backward integration and deep forward integration. Reliance owns the fabric and the network — end-to-end. There are no loose ends.

Reliance is B2C on the outside, but B2B (business-to-business) on the inside. Its managerial activities and the accomplishments through cost centres, revenue centres and profit centres are breath-taking, buzzing and borderless.

ESPN Cricinfo says that Allan Border is the epitome of the fighting Australian. Dhirubhai was the epitome of the fighting capitalist. Reliance is the epitome of the efforts of capitalism.

There is the extraordinary past. There is the gargantuan present. There is an exciting future. We can make whatever yarn we wish to make of these. All three are about the flow of time in its long journey. It is as if time wraps itself along the Reliance warp.

The warp in a fabric is the yarn that goes the distance. It goes metres and metres to make up the tale and the bale. The weft is the yarn that defines the moment.

Rise and rise

Let us imagine Dhirubhai walking along with us in this moment. He would be very happy. Reliance is now in three game-changing industries: fuels and feedstock; mobile telephony and broadband; and retail. Reliance has served India by bringing optimism and opportunities in gigantic barrels. It has served the citizens of India. It has over 2,00,000 employees and supports the enterprises of over 20 million self-employed Indians.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) has grown six times since 2002, or from $0.5 trillion to $3.2 trillion in 2020. Reliance earns $18 billion in revenues. Its revenues have risen 12-fold since 2002. Its market capitalisation has grown at least ten times in the same period.

Reliance exports petroleum products. Its Jamnagar refinery has a capacity of 1.24 million barrels per stream day. Reliance Retail is set to become the biggest retailer in India. It has over 3,800 retail outlets.

Reliance owns a clutch of powerful brands — Reliance Fresh, Reliance Smart, Reliance Digital, Reliance Trends, Ajio and Jio Mart. Reliance has disrupted many businesses with Jio Platforms. In merely four years, Jio has added 387.5 million subscribers and has over 34 per cent of the market. Jio earns $2.4 billion in revenue.

Reliance is a celebration of the owner-driven public company. The Ambani family owns more than 45 per cent of the shareholding. This extraordinarily big inside holding is the perfect antidote to ‘agency costs’. The other shareholders of Reliance admired Dhirubhai. He belonged to them. They belonged to him. They were cut from the same cloth. They wore the same clothes.

Reliance has combined enterprise, leadership, ownership and management. Its ownership and management practices have for long been the envy of many European and American corporations. Reliance’s corporate ownership and management practices have been discussed since the time it chose to issue its global depository receipts in May 1992. The world’s most demanding shareholders — the institutional shareholders, in particular — knew of Reliance’s strengths since 1993. Twenty-seven years later, more and more of them are rushing to invest in Reliance.

The writer is founder of CreaSakti

CAN DO WILL DO MUST DO

CAN DO

WILL DO 

MUST DO

An exhortation I found somewhere way back in 1996. It got stuck in my being since then, for ever. 

I look at it this way.

CAN DO

It  means I can do it. But I may not do it. Means nothing is ever going to happen.

Accomplishment would be level zero.

WILL DO IT

It means I'll say I will do  it. But I may or may not do it. Perhaps I'll never do it. 

The status quo remains. I'd never move or budge even an inch. I remain doing nothing.

Accomplishment, level zero.

MUST DO

I reach a state where I'd never let go without doing it. I'd tell myself I must do it. I'd keep at it till I accomplish,attain or  achieve. 

Accomplishment, level 100 percent. Even much higher. 

It is upto each individual to make a choice 

where he's/she's going  to be, where you'd like to be. 

Your choice makes you or mars you.

You may not become the number one in the world or in your field. But you'd leave a rich legacy behind because of your unparalleled achievements.

Good luck

Academics generate scholars. Scholars build the society.

Quoting from 

The Hindu 22 June 2020 Page 5

Recommendations of expert committee on Higher Education in Kerala

Summing up:

1. Upgradation of institutional facilities to encourage research based academic writing and critical reading of texts.

2. Hone the reading - writing skills of students.

3.Reshape pedagogical practices to ensure both teachers and students are co- learners, rather than mere recipients and providers of knowledge.

3. Reengineer the current scenario where teachers' employment is the sole purpose of running higher education institutions.

4.Reduce the overbearing focus on examinations.

5. Evaluate students on the basis of creative learning.

6. Emphasise the development of soft skills.

7. Needs holistic thrust on emerging fields of study

8. Focus on a paradigm shift to research based learning .

The gist as I see is, the maxim, learning by rot, is to be cast overboard.

The intelligence and the extraordinary capabilities of the students have to be recognised and encouraged to play the prime part in their acquisition of knowlege.

The role of the teachers is to assist them in their quest.

The teachers have to excel. They have to constantly keep on learning, upgrading and reorienting themselves to stay relevant.

Teachers are reincarnation of the Gods to the students. They believe teachers can never go wrong. Students assimilate the mannerisms and the pronunciations of the teachers. They carry it on into successive generations.

The challenge on the teachers is at once onerous and enormous.

The teachers must desist from decimating the students who dare to raise WHY and HOW.

Encourage them tò enlarge their horizon and fill the gaps in their build up.

Academics generate scholars. Scholars build the society.

If humans evolved from apes, why do apes and monkeys still exist?

If humans evolved from apes, why do apes and monkeys still exist?

The poser, simply out of curiosity, was from the brother, not an evolution denier , of Sutanu Satpathy, teacher in a Delhi College.

The quote is from an article by Sutanu Satpathy in The Hindu Sunday Magazine of 17 May 2020.

It took me to a message from the Pulpit of CSI Christ Church, Trivandrum, Kerala, India by Rev. T M John almost two decades ago.

He said for God a moment, or a milli or nano second is or can be millions of years in our parlance.

That kind of solved a constant puzzle in my mind.

Genesis narrates how God created the world and everything in it in a span of six days leaving the seventh day or the weekend to take a well earned rest.

While it was a good story, it held no rationale. Creation as described in the Bible was superseded by the Theory of evolution that had Science backing it up. Man has reasonable questions. Never accuse him of blasphemy for his curiosity.

The message awakened me. It struck me God's six days are millions of years for the human being.

Science transcends.

When we ritually or religiously broadcast God's ways are mysterious we never inculcate it. How many really mean it, is a mute question.
There are routine messages singing in praise of evolution in Genesis ignoring Science.
Can we wish away the truth? Can we nullify Science?
But who do we turn to when a virus threatens to evict human beings lock, stock and barrel from their chosen abode? Who chose it for their sojourn in the first place? How?
Here is the mystery.
Here is the resolution.
Everything is in God's power. Nothing is beyond God.

IKIGAI - The Japanese Secret to Long Life - MY TAKE AWAY

 IKIGAI 

By Hector Garcia and Francesc Miralles

It unlocks the Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life.

IKIGAI is Japanese. Pronounced ikieguy, it may broadly be translated as LIFE TO BE WORTHWHILE.

Iki is life
Gai comes from Kai
Kai is the realisation of hopes and expectations.

IKIGAI is a reason for being, for being alive.
It encompasses joy, a sense of purpose and meaning and a feeling of well being.

The work is extraordinary

Excerpts

Microflow : 

Enjoying mundane tasks

When you carry out mundane tasks - like doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, attend to paperwork, work as an elevator- escalator- lift operator for years together with an ever present smile or any such tasks - always enjoying doing them, it is called MICROFLOW. Our ability to turn routine tasks into moments of Microflow,- into something we enjoy is key to our being happy, since we all have to do such tasks

MOMENTARY DIGRESSION

I was dumbstruck with the simple yet terrific narratiive.

We often face in accordance with our own brilliant evaluation gargantuan tasks in everyday life. It may or may not be. Negotiating them is Herculean we consider.

My solution to that as I evolved and continue to evolve has been to slice the tasks up into minute pieces or particles and tackle them one by one. It helps me resolve the issues that plague me without leaving a mounting backlog.

I can honestly say I have been pretty successful in the effort.

I have suggested the formula to whoever I meet.

Acceptance is theirs.

Quote  from IKIGAI

After two hours on the road, we're finally able to stop worrying about the traffic.

We realised time seems to have stopped there as though the entire town were living in an endless here and now.

Yuki's still driving at the age of eighty eight and takes great pride in that. Her co-pilot is ninety nine.

We have to drive fast to keep up with them on a highway that is more dirt than asphalt.

Yuki says food is the least important thing. Food won't help you live longer. The secret is smiling and having a good time

Even Bill Gates washes the dishes every night. He says he enjoys it - that it helps him relax and clear his mind and that he tries to do it better each day following an established order or set of rules he's made for himself: Plates first, forks second and so on.

It's one of his moments of Microflow.

The book speaks of a noted Physicist. He was invited by a Super Computing firm to work on a project. Unfortunately they didn't have any assignments for him when he reported for duty. In order to keep him busy they asked him to work on a mathematical problem. The brilliant man caught on at once. He said it was baloney. And he asked for some tasks.

They asked him to go, buy paint from a store and paint the walls. He happily went on doing it.

The investors who were visiting the firm's office remarked, "They have a Nobel Laureate painting their walls."

TOWARDS A LONG CONTENTED LIFE

Japanese culture accepts the essence of impermanence, the fleeting nature of the human being and everything we create.

We have to accept we have no control over certain things - like passage of time and the ephemeral nature of the world around us.

We have to understand life is not a problem to be solved. Just remember to have something that keeps you busy doing what you love while being surrounded by people you love.

PRINCIPLES FOR HAPPINESS

The grand essentials to happiness in this life are, something to do, something to love and something to hope for.

Washington Burney - Two hundred years ago.

Still true and will remain true forever

HIGHLIGHTS

ANTIFRAGILE - ANTIFRAGILITY

I came across the term for the first time. It revealed my lean vocabulary.

Antifragility is beyond resilience or robustness. The resilient resists shocks and stays the same. The antifragile gets better when harmed. They gain from disorder.

Hydra of Greek mythology is an ardent example

Fragility erases everything in its wake.

RESILIENCE

Resilience is the ability to deal with setbacks. The resilient stay focussed. Flexibility is their strength. They adapt to change and reversals of fortune.


CYNICISM

Cynicism aims to eliminate all feelings and pleasures from life. Negative emotions surge, well up and swell.

ASCETICISM

The ascetic believes in giving up, driving away all the pleasures of life.

STOICISM

Stoicism centres on the idea there is nothing wrong with enjoying life's pleasures as they do not take control of your life as you enjoy them. You have to be prepared for the disappearance of those pleasures

QUOTE

Comparison is the thief of joy.

Theodore Roosevelt

To put it further
Embrace the wisdom of knowing when enough is enough.
Remember, someone will always have more fortune, fame and stuff than you do.

INVALUABLE TAKE AWAY FROM IKIGAI

TEN RULES FOR A GOOD LIFE

1. Stay active. Don't retire.

2. Take it slow

3. Don't fill your stomach.Restrict to 80%

4. Surround yourself with good friends.

5. Get in shape for your next birthday.

6. Smile.

7. Reconnect with nature.

8. Give thanks.

9. Live in the moment. This moment exists only now and won't come again.

10. Follow your IKIGAI. There is a passion inside you, a unique talent that gives meaning to your days and drives you to share the best of yourself until the very end. If you don't know what your IKIGAI is, your mission is to discover it.

BLIND, STRONG, ARDENT, EXTRAORDINARY

We were attending the  Malayalam worship at C S I Christ Church, Palayam,  Trivandrum Kerala, India on 5th January 2020.
We could witness  blind, strong, ardent and extra ordinary faith in action as the worship progressed.

Three of our friends inspired us.

One. Thampy.
We saw him alighting from the car to take a seat in the porch at the Church. It took him a lengthy excruciating five minutes to reach a chair though he was assisted by his companion to cover a stride of five seconds for him when he was fit. What happened to him, we had no idea. We suspected a stroke. Somebody was holding him and helping him move. He had a walking stick. It was of no help. He found it extremely difficult to navigate the short hop. Excruciating for him. Excruciating for the people who knew him. He had been jovial. He had been agile. It was obvious he was in pain.
.
Two. Mrs.  C T John. She had treaded the path slowly leaning on her walking stick.  We wondered how she had climbed the steps. But she did it with a smile. Afterwards we saw C T John bringing a foot rest from the car and placing it under her feet where she sat. We saw her lifting her feet and placing them on the foot rest. The simple act displayed the love and affection C T John had for his wife. The chemistry was wonderful and beyond known parallels.

Three. We saw C D Kurien sitting there with a walker in front. We felt sad at the frailty of the human being. We had admired C D Kurien when he drove an imported sedan while he was younger and cars were a rarity at the Church. Obviously he was more than well off. And he was generous to causes advocated or promoted  by the Church. He still is.

Later we saw the priests,  C Y Thomas Achen and Reji Achen coming down to the porch to assist eight celebrants partake in the Holy Communion as they couldn't move up to the altar. It pained us.

And among those who had moved up there were many fighting a limp.

Well, age is catching up with an aging congregation.

The Vicar had mentioned during the worship that the Church had to seriously think of Palliative Care. He had also reminded that we never employ our talents like our brethren in sister Churches.

It is painful the number of disabled in the Church in diverse phases are steadily mounting. The bell rings or tolls for everyone. The timing is uncertain and unpredictable. The maker decides.

What the impaired looks to is not alms or sympathy. It is fellowship and companionship they strive for. They look for a nod, a smile, a Hi or a listener.

The gesture by the priests to come down to them to share Holy Communion tells them the Church would never forsake them or discard them.

It makes their life. It makes their life meaningful. It makes them active.

The Church then fulfils its vision and its mission.

HOW TO LEAD A SUCCESSFUL LIFE

Jesus said, “Before you try to remove the speck from your neighbour’s eye, ensure the speck in your own eye is taken off.”

Man management needs tact, patience, sympathy and empathy. It doesn’t mean that the manager has to be docile or inactive. He has to be proactive. He has a job on his hands.  He has to accomplish what is assigned to him within the timeline set by his superiors or the system. There is no way out of the impasse. If you think you can accomplish everything by yourself you are in a fool’s paradise. You cannot be the lone ranger.  Everyone needs someone.

The subordinates are clever. They grow in their smartness as time progresses or as the generation shifts to the next. They take advantage of your good senses to remain idle. They know very well if they chose to do little or nothing, nothing is to go wrong for them.  They know their boss would somehow get the job on hand done without their intervention as he has no alternative if he proposes to retain his job.

Our parents had nothing when they began their life. They gave us whatever they could much beyond their means. We had something to begin with. We had means. We have ensured that our children have a better deal. But it is a global phenomenon. You are not unique. Everyone has means. Today they can chuck off their jobs on a whim and they won’t starve.

Fear was the key when we were working. Fear is not the key today.

Look at your mother. A fantastic woman. A multitasker. A great cook. Who loves her husband, children and her mother. She has no demands for herself. She strives for the family. But how many are like her? Very few, life tells us.

This is micro.

The macro is where you are. The environment you are in.

Just as your mother cannot change her parents, her husband or her children – of course there are legal methods available to alter the situation that would be equivalent to a major critical surgery where the outcome would be unambiguously unpredictable – you are in a situation where you will have to manage with the resources you have. You have no choice. Perhaps you could hand over the pink slip at will, but when you do it with a flourish you have to understand that someone somewhere waits with a similar fate for you.

We have a curious mix in the workstations today. The staff is well educated. They may even be better than you in every respect. As they are well off they can hit it off spectacularly without the well paid job they have.

Fact is, you need them.

Enforce discipline you must. They would have to conform and learn to conform if they shirk.

But you are not the ancient Head Master who had roamed the corridors with an iron hand and the sword, nee, the baton or the rod. We had feared him, never respected him. However modern times signify that those golden days are over.

Now, the crux.

You would have to marshal the assets you have wisely. You can laugh with them. But they have to know you are the boss. But never boss them or give them the impression you are bossing them. Never be subjective. You have to be objective. Take them into confidence wherever possible. It doesn’t mean you have to share the confidential with them. Let the confidential stay confidential.

Never shout at them even when they exceed the limit according to your perception. Never fire away at them after office hours. You have to respect their private space. Never be angry with them or shout at them in presence of others. It saps their ego. You don’t have to break their ego to get things done. You have to wisely make their ego play its part to get things done and resolve issues. It is like cricket. The batsman employs the power the bowler unleashes to hit a Six effortlessly. It is nothing but patience and talent.

Display your anger softly. I can assure when you shout it generates negative vibes.  Negativity unlocks cold anger – they cannot retaliate in the open and in turn invites subtlety in their response – that paves the way for the downfall of their tormentor who in their eyes would be the most hated person on earth.

Praise them wherever it is due. Praise them for even little or minor things. Acknowledge them.

But you have to be firm when you tell them to do their job or  to act. They have to be pushed into a slot where they cannot get away without compliance. It is delicate. Ensure you are not breaking the thin thread of friendship or normalcy when you do that. Be a good listener. Smile.

Cinema is the willing suspension of disbelief. Real life is no different. Be a sport and suspend your perceptions when the need arises. You could be wrong.

People have to learn they have to pool their resources or capabilities for the good of the organization. For, without the organization no one has any locus standi when they are within. The organization sets the sights. You have to forgo your own self respect for the sake of the organization.

You have to reengineer yourself before you set out on the expedition to reorient your coworkers or subordinates. Keep your eyes and ears open. Have the magnanimity to learn from others and in fact the lowest on the pyramid. They can teach you quite a lot. Accept that however much you know your knowledge is limited. People respect your chair, not you. You are nothing but an insignificant cog.

Please understand nothing is permanent in the world. Everything is transitory or transient. Everything is cyclic. The one on top rides down to the bottom. He would ascend again. Employ at once dynamism and flexibility. But temper your act. Be kind.

Never be overconfident. Remember pride goes before a fall.

Finally have quality time with family. Your mind has to be clear. You have to be focused and yet you must unwind yourself as much as you can.  As you drive around enjoy the nature and its serenity. It takes a load off. It is bliss to bask in the magnificence of nature. It’d transform you. The transition would alter you dramatically into a brand new being.