INTRODUCTION

India is fortunate to have a number of trailblazers who established giant industries in India
whichprospered by their special managerial skills acquired through practice or through brain
waves or through hereditary excellence of business background. These include Tatas, Birlas,
Khaitans,Goenkas, Bajajs, Ambanis, Jindals, Mittals, Ruias, Mirchandanis and individuals like
VijayMallya and Bhai Mohan Singh of Ranbaxy. Their descendants to day control more than Rs.
800billion through 600 companies employing about one lakh people. We use their products day
inand day out whether it is consumer durables, electronics, basic necessities and luxuries of
life.One of the greatest businessmen India has produced is Dhirubhai Ambani, a synonym
for Reliance and Vimal. For his vision, leadership qualities, trailblazing characteristics and
gogetting approaches, which have all put Reliance and his sons now at the top of the richest
peoplein the world, out team have selected Dhirubhai Ambani as a quintessential representative
of aspecific leadership style which, among other things, will be explained in detail in this term
paper.For a matriculate from a middle class family starting his trading life in Africa with M/s. Besse
&Company, a small sub-division of Shell, rising to the pinnacles of business excellence hardly
inthree decades speaks volumes of the qualities of head and heart which guided Dhirubhai
Ambaniin his long but eventful journey through the corridors of yarn markets, trading,
textiles,petrochemicals, polyester manufacturing and what not, thus embracing and
encompassing allpossible business areas which guaranteed a good profit and best value for
money, not only for hisfamily members, but for the millions of his shareholders. It was a unique
spectacle that theannual general body meetings of Reliance were always held in open auditoria or
maidans justbecause thousands had to be accommodated is still one of the most unique
phenomena in theIndian business scenario.

OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

1.Study of Reliance Industries Ltd. including all the subdivisions.2.
Study of the leadership style of Dhirubhai Ambani and how it influenced the managerialpractices
of the company.3.
Categorization of Dhirubhai Ambani using various leadership models.4.
Study of the impact of this leadership style on the Reliance group.5.
Comments on the Reliance framework and identification of areas for rationalization
or improvement, if any.

COMPANY PROFILE
Reliance Group is India's largest private sector enterprise with revenues in excess of US$
25billion. The group has diversified business interests in areas such as petrochemicals, textiles
andretail. Reliance Group's flagship company, Reliance Industries Limited (RIL), is a
FortuneGlobal 500 company and is the largest private sector company in India.The Reliance
Group was founded by the legendary Dhirubhai H. Ambani. In 1975, the companyexpanded into
textiles. Dhirubhai Ambani introduced equity cult in India when Reliance wentpublic with IPO in
1977. Since the launch of its IPO RIL has expanded rapidly and integratedbackwards into other
industry sectors, most notably the production of petrochemicals and therefining of crude oil.
Dhirubhai led the evolution as a global leader in the materials and energyvalue chain businesses.
Today, Reliance Group's activities range from exploration andproduction of oil and gas,
petroleum refining and marketing, petrochemicals (polyester, fiber intermediates, plastics and
chemicals) to textiles and retail. Reliance enjoys global leadership inits businesses. It is the
largest polyester yarn and fiber producer in the world and among the topfive to ten producers in
the world in major petrochemical products. Presently, Reliance Grouphas more than 25,000
employees on its rolls and exports products in excess of US$ 15 billion tomore than 100
countries in the world.

BUSINESS INTERESTS OF RELIANCE:

Petroleum Exploration and Production: Petroleum Exploration and Production is a major
growtharea for Reliance and Reliance intends to become a global energy major. RIL is the largest
Oil &Gas acreage holder among the Private sector companies in India with 34 domestic
explorationblocks covering an area of about 331,000 sq. km. It is also India's first private sector
company inthe Exploration and Production (E&P) sector to have discovered large gas reserves.
RIL also hasinterests in one exploration block each in Yemen and Oman.Petroleum Refining and
Marketing: Reliance operates the third largest refinery in the world atany single location, with a
capacity of 30 million tons per year of crude throughput, at Jamnagar,Gujarat. Reliance is in the
process of doubling the petroleum refinery at Jamnagar, which willmake it the largest petroleum
refinery in the world. The products rolled out from Reliancerefinery include: LPG, Propylene,
Naphtha, Reformate, Gasoline, TAME, Jet / Aviation TurbineFuel / Superior Kerosene Oil, High
Speed Diesel, Sulphur, and Petroleum Coke.
Polymer:
Reliance's polymer business is integrated with its cracker facility at Hazira, aswell as its refinery
at Jamnagar, ensuring feedstock availability at all times. The companyoperates world-scale
plants for Polyolefins and PVC with state-of-art technologies fromglobal licensors like Novacor,
Geon and Union Carbide.

Polyester:
Reliance is the largest producer of polyester fiber and yarn in the world, witha capacity of 2,000
KTA.
Polyester Intermediates:
Reliance is the world's 3rd largest producer of Paraxylene(PX), 6th largest producer of Purified
Terephthalic Acid (PTA) and 5th largest producer of Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG).
Textiles
Reliance textile products are sold under the brand names of Only Vimal, Harmony,Reance,
RueRel and V2. Reliances Naroda textile complex, one of Indias largest and most
modern textile complexes, produces about 25 million meters of fabric both for domestic
andforeign markets.
Retail
Reliance has recently entered the retail market and is aggressively working onintroducing a panIndia network of retail outlets in multiple formats.
SUBSIDIARIES OF RELIANCE GROUP:
Reliance Petroleum - Reliance Petroleum Limited (RPL) is a subsidiary of RelianceIndustries
Limited (RIL) and was created to exploit the emerging opportunities, creatingvalue in the
refining sector worldwide.
Reliance Life Sciences- Reliance Life Sciences is a diversified and integratedbiotechnology
initiative of the Reliance group companies, India's largest private sector companies.
Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited - Reliance Industrial Infrastructure Limited(RIIL), a
Reliance Group company, is principally engaged in the formation and operationof industrial
infrastructure, involving the leasing and supply with the software of thecomputer and data
processing.
Reliance Institute of Life Sciences - Reliance Life Sciences Institute (RILS), establishedby
Dhirubhai Ambani Foundation, is an institution of higher education in various fieldsof life
sciences and related technologies.
Reliance Solar Limited - Initiative for Solar Energy and Reliance Group aims to bringsolar
energy systems and solutions primarily to remote and rural areas and bring about atransformation
in the quality of life.

Reliance Logistics - Reliance Logistics (P) Ltd., a Reliance group company, is a singlewindow
solution provider for all your transportation, distribution, storage, logistics andsupply chain
needs.
Reliance Clinical Research Services - Reliance Clinical Research Services (RCRS), aReliance
group company, is a contract research organization (CRO) and its wholly owned
subsidiary of Reliance Life Sciences, which aims to provide world-class services for clinical
research, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology companies and medical equipment.
Relicord - Relicord, a Reliance Life Sciences (RLS) initiative, offering services of cordblood
banking is supported by Reliance Group, India's largest business house.
MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE RELIANCE GROUP
The world's largest producer of Polyester Fiber and Yarn
4th largest producer of Paraxylene (PX)
5th largest producer of Purified Terephthalic Acid (PTA)
7th largest producer of Polypropylene (PP)
Reliance's refinery at Jamnagar is the third largest refinery at a single location in theworld.
Reliance pioneered the first ever Euro Convertible Bond issue by an Indian company.
Reliance is the first private sector company in India to be rated by international creditrating
agencies.
First corporate in Asia to issue 50 and 100 years bond in US debt market.
First private sector Company in India to record a net profit of US dollar of over 1 billion.

LEADERSHIP STYLE OF DHIRUBHAI AMBANI

The following is a description of the leadership style of Dhirubhai Ambani, the founder
of Reliance Industries. The managerial practices in Reliance were all affected completely by
theleadership style of its founder. The great success story of Reliance can be completely
attributedto the style of management brought in by Dhirubhai Ambani which was perfected by
his sonsand to some extent by experts in business management hired by the Reliance Group. But
the factremains that the comprehensive and integrated personality of Dhirubhai Ambani
permeates andpenetrates through all aspects of working of Reliance Industries and all its
subsidiaries.
DHIRUBHAI AMBANI- YARN TRADER TO NATIONAL BUSINESS TYCOON
It is interesting to note the gradual development of Ambani as a leader from his birth, growth
andblooming into a full fledged company head. Born in a traders family in Gujarat on
December 28th
1932 to Jumna and Hirachand Ambani, he was the third of five children and his father was
aschool master. Having barely completed his matriculation exam at 17 years of age,
Dhirubhaireached Aden and joined M/s. Besse & Co. which was dealing with Shell products and
was paida first salary of 300 rupees per month. He studied all the nuances of the marketing of
petroleumand as an ambitious young man; he shifted from service to business. He was helped by
Jamnadasin dealing with commodities like rice and sugar and returned to India in 1958.He
started Reliance Commercial Corporation with a capital of Rs 15000 as a trading firm. It isvery
educative to note that as for an Arab Sheiks request even a consignment of Indian soil wassent
to Aden to grow roses in the desert showing that Ambani had the knack to identify anopportunity
and strike the iron when it is hot.Branching out to yarn trading, he started the first spanking new
mill at Naroda as he foresawsynthetics as the fabric of the future which shows the visionary
nature of the man in general.Dhirubhai registered Reliance Textile Industries with a paid up
capital of 150000 as a power loom unit. This is where the backward integration concept first took
roots and later became thecentral theme for all strategic planning in Reliance.
As a risk taker, Ambani raised Rs. 280000 to get into manufacturing in a project which
waspredicted to fail by great business stalwarts like Viren Shah. But, because of his
advanceanticipation of things to come, he made a profit of 1.3 million in the first year. By
1977,Dhirubhai went public and his profit reached Rs 43.3 million from the revenues of 700
million.To manage his exploding business, he took out talent from wherever available and jobs
wereoffered more on showing initiative rather than on paper qualifications which became a
classicReliance management strategy. The best technological talent was poached from all
hiscompetitors to form the brains trust of Reliance.When Ambani bought machinery, he was
always ahead of tomorrows and had commitment toquality by taking the finest technology the
world could offer. The best example is that of acquiring DuPont technology for synthetic yarn
from Delaware, US, the polyester process beingfirst bought by him outside of United
States.Dhirubhai entered domestic markets with an advertising blitz on par with Hindustan Lever
whenReliance introduced ONLY VIMAL since he was very confident that the brand image was
themost important in order to win the consumers confidence. Dhirubhai felt that marketing
successwas a function of three factors, namely, choosing the right product mix, identifying the

marketand establishing a viable distribution structure. When faced with resistance from
traditional clothmarketers, Dhirubhai opened his own showrooms and appointed agents and
offered franchises tohis own shareholders. He also opened up non metro urban segments in
smaller towns as a resultof which by 1980, Reliance fabrics were available to twenty company
owned retail outlets, 1000franchised outlets and more than twenty thousand regular retails stores.
This was comparable inspeed and numbers only to Italian Benetton and American Mc Donalds.
Dhirubhai established agood rapport with his dealers by making his business with them risk free
because he used to sayif you lose, come back to us, but if you make profits, they are all yours!
Dhirubhais futuregazing skill could be inferred from the fact that though India is a poor country,
people will notmind paying a little more for synthetics provided they have a good quality and
had a longer wear and tear.The Naroda mill transformed Dhirubhai from a simple yarn trader to a
great mill owner on par with Mafatlals, Sarabhais etc. Dhirubhai spread out countries abroad
through his Reliance
synthetic textiles.
His dynamism and confidence in the future made him reach a sales turnover of Rs 1 billion in
just twelve years whereas Bombay Dyeing needed hundred years. Dhirubhai wasaccused of
black marketing and corruption to improve his sales and get things done.After 1977, when
Reliance went public, Dhirubhais holdings were 16% but he had thousands of share holders
from the public to support him in all his endeavors. By converting debt into equitythrough
successful debenture issues through 1979 to 1982, he was able to raise up to Rs 500millions. A
very important philosophy of Dhirubhai was always to ensure that Reliance sharewere in the
ascendant to draw maximum benefit for the shareholders for whom he was preparedto bend the
Govt. rules, use his political influence and any legal Hera pheri required for
thepurpose.Dhirubhai made sure that whenever Reliance had to impress the Govt. to modify the
existingrules and regulations, they used to have all the information in India and abroad on the
fingertipsof the group which met and influenced the Govt.Reliance always managed to maintain
its zero-tax status by changing its accounting practice bycapitalizing interest for the long term
debt for the purchase of fixed assets. Many people felt thatReliance was avoiding taxes by
cheating the Govt. However, all the profits were ploughed intothe company by Dhirubhai and his
family so that business prospered. Dhirubhai had the knack of taking on people like VP Singh in
which he had the inherent support from Ms. Indira Gandhi,Pranab Mukherjee and Rajeev
Gandhi. One best example is when he contracted the purchase of awhole years supply of PTA of
60000 tons by having letters of credit from many banks when theGovt. was about to decide to
shift imports of PTA from open license to permissible limited list.Dhirubhai was able to show his
one-upmanship against Nusli Wadia and Goenka of IndianExpress which were bent upon
destroying Reliance. Though this led to his paralysis and later failing health, he was able to
broker peace with his enemies through the success of Reliances Gseries along with the meeting
of Dhirubhai with Rajeev Gandhi through the good offices of Amitabh Bachhan when VP Singh
was shifted from Finance to Defence.However, there was never formal delegation of authority in
Reliance as there was flexibility aswell as ambiguity. Only the top managers could call the shots
in addition to Dhirubhai and his
sons. In spite of this, Dhirubhai was very considerate to his employees like when Mr.
Sanghviincurred a heavy loss in a deal with a view to increase the profit for Reliance. After
1995,Dhirubhai handed over the reins of his empire to his sons though he did not lose his craving

for money and power since he was always available for expert advice.According to Anil Ambani,
his fathers only fault was he thought too big and clearly ahead of histime.
DHIRUBHAI AMBANIS IMPACT ON RELIANCES MANAGERIALPRACTICES AND
THEIR POSITIVE IMPACT ON BUSINESS
The great success of the Reliance Group is in no small measure to epoch making changes
inmanagement practices and philosophies brought about by Dhirubhai Ambani based on
hisconvictions that reflect his unique management style. The following illustrate and
proveDhirubhai Ambanis influence on Reliances management practices.
Dhirubhai Ambani was a transformational leader. His innovative idea of converting
thedebentures of the company into equity shares resulted in far reaching changes in
themanagement practices. Reliance was able to convert its liabilities into assets by
thismasterstroke and the share prices of the company went up and all the investors couldmake
through this process. Though, the Government of the day was against this equitycult starter by
Dhirubhai per say, but, over a period of time based on precedence inforeign companies, the
statute book itself was modified to be in line with this innovativeidea. Consequently, the volumes
of business in Reliance increased very fast along withquick multiplication of its share capital.
Dhirubhai was a visionary who foresaw that mere financing through banks and publiclimited
companies will not suffice to increase the wealth base of Reliance. So, he wasable to convince
the people of rural Gujarat and elsewhere that shareholders of thecompany will have handsome
returns on their investments. This approach resulted inhaving more than 3 million shareholders
investing in Reliance, which is the highestnumber in the world for any company. As a result,
Reliance Industries was the onlypublic limited company whose annual general meetings had to
be held in open air
stadiums. So much so, with almost 20% of the shareholders in India belonging toReliance, it
became a dictating factor in Indian economy, courtesy the Indian stock markets.
Dhirubhai Ambani believed that his people were his most important assets. The mosttalented
professionals were drawn from all and sundry, were nurtured and continuouslyprovided initiative
to aim for still higher goals and targets. These highly motivated peoplecomprised the core of
what is known as the Reliance family. This practice improvedthe working of not only Reliance,
but other prospering companies who followed thispractice also prospered in the long run. He also
empowered his managers by givingauthority to them to work independently to work
independently he had belief in thecapabilities of his people. This has grown to become the core
of the Reliance groups HR policy of staff recruitment and maintenance.

Dhirubhai was a risk taker, but was only prepared to take calculated risk based on theexpected
future trends. He invested his entire earnings to purchase a huge stock of polyester yarn which
was felt as a wrong decision by others because cotton was the kingin India at the time. But he
proved right and this made him a billionaire as polyester caught the fancy of the people for better
value and longer wear and tear period of theclothing. This influenced Reliance to such an extent
that it went on with the purchase of polyester technology from DuPont as the first non- American
company to do so. Thismove gave the Reliance Group monumental financial resources that
helped build a robustgrowth engine and also developed a core competence to grow business,
expand anddiversify into a potato-to-petrochemicals conglomerate at a break neck speed.
When Dhirubhai felt that was a lot of opposition for the introduction of polyester clothfor retail
outlets, he started his own chain of distribution centers and gave retail agenciesto many of his
shareholders on franchise basis. This made it possible for only Vimal topenetrate through A and
B class cities and semi-urban neighborhoods which made themarket blossom to absorb additional
supplies and increase the demand for the same allover the country. In the long term perspective,
this also helped develop the much neededknowledge of supply chain management strategies in
the Reliance Group, which now
boasts of one of the best supply chains in the country in the category of departmentalstores, food
chains, pharmacy drug stores etc.
Dhirubhai Ambani was the one of the first Indian businessmen to realize that high qualityactually
costs less. Dhirubhai always insisted that Reliance use the best and finest state-of-the-art
machinery, equipment and manufacturing facilities. Under his stewardship, theReliance
Industries operated the best manufacturing plants in the country, a comment bythe World Bank
team affirming the same being a testimony to its technologicaladvancement. In the long run this
emphasis on constant up gradation of facilitiesimproved the capacity utilization, economies of
scale and reduced the production costsper unit in various factories of the company. Also, this
philosophy helped the company tovastly cut down its production/manufacturing costs, provide
higher quality products andproduct pricing flexibility in many of their high volume- low margin
businesses.
LEADERSHIP STYLE BASED ON VARIOUS MODELS
We are aware of different frameworks and models for leadership styles. Based on the facts
anddata available to us regarding Dhirubhai Ambani, we will now proceed to categorizing
himaccordingly and appropriately using relevant leadership models.
I 10 MODEL
Information
Dhirubhai Ambani mastered the secret of gathering information. He had an uncanny knack
of knowing exactly how the market is going to behave and stayed ahead of

times.He used to gather information, whatever it may be and at whatever cost. He used to gather
information aboutGovernments whether they were local, state, central or international. Whenever
he went for approval of license from government he used to have all the information about the
marketcapacity, market share, competitors etc. he used to gather information about
products,companies, consumers, markets, people, services, politics and practically anything
andeverything that mattered for that matter. He used to keep up to date information of
competitors.
He used to gather information, analyzed and process the same. He was also able to
identifyopportunities out of those news and information. He was also quick to disburse that
informationto the relevant people.
Intelligence
Jamnadas, a friend of Dhirubhai helped him by giving some money to invest in share
marketwhen both of them left the job in Aden. Dhirubhai came to India after some years and
establishedhis own business. When Jamnadas came to India Dhirubhai gave him job in his
company. Eventhough Jamnadas stopped working after sometime, Dhirubhai insisted that he be
paid his salarytill his demise. It shows his social intelligence. He was able to understand others
emotions andfeelings. He never forgot people who helped him.Dhirubhai was very shrewd in his
business transactions as well. He had a knack of getting theright information appropriate to the
situation and used it to his advantage whenever necessary.He had the ability to solve any
problem or deal with any kind of situation at the right time and inthe right perspective.
Imagination
He always was ahead of the times and was able to predict or forecast future
developmentscorrectly. For example, he made the plant capacity of polyester production mill
higher than thecurrent market demand at that point of time because he knew that in near future,
the demand for polyester would increase. Once he also reserved some stock of yarn in view of
expected increasein the market price and this happened, resulting in huge profits.
Inspiration
He was a very inspirational leader. He inspired a good deal of young entrepreneurs in India.
Tohis employees, he was their messiah whom they could fall back to in any hour of need.
For example, when the action of one of his employees resulted in a huge loss, he was
magnanimousin condoning the same, for he was very sure that the employee worked for the
benefit of hiscompany in the said situation.
Insight
He had an uncanny insight to the future of his business. His choice of moving on to
polyester,especially, at a time when cotton was the more popular fabric was based on his
perception thatthe demand for polyester would pick up very soon and his prophecy was proved
right.Converting debt into equity using debentures only highlights his deep insight about his
businessbecause by this move, he could clear the companys debts and achieve profits for all
theshareholders.Dhirubhai gave importance to the small investor and his contributions, and by
doing so, heinvolved millions of middle class investors

Intensity
Dhirubhai was intensely attached to his company, its people and its business. All his moves
weredirected ultimately for the good of his company. His intensity was that infectious that it
spread toall his employees. He was so intensely attached to his company that was prepared to
forego hisintegrity for the sake of getting things done by hook or by crook for the sake of his
company.
Integrity
Dhirubhai seems to stand low in terms of integrity. Dhirubhai manipulated the laws and
customsrules to his companys advantage. He exploited the Indian government, their rules and
tax systemto the best of his ability which is very clear from the fact that Reliance is the only
companywhich never paid taxes even after three decades of listing and went on giving bonuses
anddividends to shareholders. It was government and the system which was at loss. Billions
of rupees which should have gone to the coffers of government allegedly went into
buildingReliance Empire and also went for paying bribes to the government babus.
Critics accused himof using "more than the usual" ways of obtaining licenses, getting quick
approvals for publicissues and capital goods imports, and of getting policies formulated in favor
of RelianceIndustries.
However, Dhirubhai used to say that these were baseless allegations made against him by
hisjealous competitors.
Influence
Dhirubhai Ambani was known for his influence in political circles and had the ability to
acquiremost difficult licenses during the license raj. Ambanis influence on New Delhi was so
strongthat everything worked the way he wanted it to be, whether it was getting a license or
takingaction against his competitors.
Interdependence
Dhirubhai depended on the Reliance family consisting of professionals and technocrats
drawnby him from all possible quarters who were able to convert his expectations to fruitful
results. Bydepending on them and looking after them simultaneously, he was able to achieve
superlativeresults. This shows that Dhirubhai believed in team work though, of course, he was
always theteam leader.
Impact
Dhirubhai had a great impact on stock exchanges and on government. He had such an impactthat
when Govt. and stock exchange experts opposed his idea of converting debentures to shares,he
threatened them that if they take any legal action he will withdraw all shares from the
stock exchange. Fearing this SEBI never took any action against him, and he forced the
government tochange the law.
SITUATIONAL THEORY OF LEADERSHIP
Situational leadership stresses that leadership is composed of both a directive and a
supportivedimension, each of which is to be applied appropriately in a given situation. According
to thistheory, leaders must change the degree to which they are directive or supportive to meet
thechanging needs of the subordinates. In other words, situational leadership demands that a
leader should match his style to the competence and commitment of his subordinates. Effective
leaders

are those who can recognize the needs of the employees and adopt their own style to meet
thoseneeds.S3: high supportive/low directive behavior SUPPORTIVE STYLES2: high
directive/high supportive behavior COACHING STYLE(
DHIRUBHAI AMBANI
)S4:low supportive/low directive behavior DELEGATING STYLES1:high directive/low
supportive behavior DIRECTING BEHAVIOR
Note:
Horizontal axis represents directive behavior. Vertical axis represents supportivebehavior
Based on the data available, we can categorize Dhirubhai under S2 leadership style
whichinvolves high directive and high supportive behavior as per the Blanchard-Blanchard
situationalleadership-II model. As Dhirubhai was showing spectacular results right from the
beginning of his companys functioning in India and also because he picked and chose the
technical andprofessional core group for his Reliance family, the followers were highly
motivated, optimisticand goal directed. The followers therefore were at D2 to D3 development
levels and required aguided coaching approach. Because of their commitment and competence,
Dhirubhai followedthe coaching approach in a high directive and high supportive style. As for
this, he focusedcommunication on both achieving goals and meeting the socio-emotional needs
of hissubordinates. He involved himself with the subordinates by giving encouragement and
solicitingsubordinate input. However, it is an extension of S1 leadership style that is high
directive andlow supportive behavior because as a leader, he was always making the final
decision based onwhat and how the goal can be accomplished.

BLAKE & MOUTONS LEADERSHIP GRID

The leadership grid proposed by Blake & Mouton, in its most reformed form of 1985, isdesigned
to explain how leaders help organizations to reach their purposes through two factors,namely,
concern for results on a 9 point scale and concern for people also on a 9 point scale.(1,1)
represents impoverished management, (9,1) represents authority compliance, (5,5)represents
middle-of-the-road management, (1,9) represents country club management and (9,9)represents
team management.The (9, 9) style places a strong emphasis on both tasks and inter-personal
relationships. Itpromotes a high degree of participation and team work in the organization and
involves theemployees fully committed to their work.Based on the data available, Dhirubhai
Ambani can be categorized as a 9,9 leader, that is, in theteam management block of leadership
grid. Dhirubhai used to stimulate participation of theemployees, always made his priorities clear
and followed them to the successful completion. Hebehaved open mindedly and enjoyed
working with his employees. However, he was not perhapsgetting all the issues into the open
which is perhaps a lapse. Because the employees were hand-picked based on professional and
technical competence and drawn from diverse sources, their involvement and commitment to
work was of the highest order. In addition, Dhirubhai acted as amember of the so called Reliance
family though sitting at the top of the table and thus couldestablish very good inter-personal
relationships as he was strongly goal directed, he was able toalways emphasize and motivate his

employees towards task achievement as an important goal tobe kept in mind at all times. He
always had a very clear perception of his priorities in terms of immediate and final goals, a
concept that percolated down to all his employees. Because of thecommon stake for his
company, very good relationships of trust and respect ensued between himand his team
members. The following points corroborate this view as additional confirmations:

TASK ORIENTED BEHAVIOR

Dhirubhai was ready to risk his personal integrity, bend the rules, influence thepoliticians and the
Government Officers concerned for the sole purpose of achieving hisgoals or targets.
As a risk taker, he expanded the capacity of his mills or went for polyester at such timeswhen the
atmosphere did not appear right for the same because he had a form convictionthat the goals he
had set for his company are justified and are bound to be met.
PEOPLE ORIENTED BEHAVIOR
He had a very jovial manner while handling his employees by treating them as part of
hisextended family, condoning their honest mistakes, if only, when they were for the benefitof
the organization.
He was a very good pay-master and was very kind and considerate to all his employeeswho were
hand-picked him for their administrative/technical expertise.
He never advertized his munificence because felt obliged to help out not only the
needyemployees, but others remotely connected with the Reliance family.

COMMENTS ON THE LEADERSHIP STYLE OFDHIRUBHAI AMBANI

Ambanis style of functioning produced all-round success for his organization in terms of
thefollowing:His coaching style of high directive and high supportive behavior as well as the
teammanagement style under the leadership grid are very apt and relevant for Reliance Group as
theyalways produced the best possible results with all-round benefits to all the stakeholders
includingemployees, customers, shareholders and the investors. His high directive and high
supportivebehavior is found to be very suitable for his dedicated and motivated employees who
were allhand-picked by him for their ability and expertise. His style of functioning made all
concerned tobelieve that Reliance was indeed a big extended family of Ambanis.But his gogetter status by hook or by crook and by bending the rules and regulations of theGovt. concerned
and his single minded devotion to improve Reliance at the cost of other parallelestablishments
made him many enemies like Nusli Wadia or P Goenka and a few others withwhom he had to
continue an ever-going war of words and deeds.There is no evidence to show that career

development schemes were in operation in Reliance atthat point of time, which is a prime
necessity to retain talent and to stay competitive in thechanging environment. It also appears that
a well set hierarchy in the bureaucracy seems to beabsent and most of the decisions were taken
by the senior most managers in addition toDhirubhai showing that delegation of responsibility
was under a low key. Though Reliancefollowed all the rules of corporate governance seemingly,
they always took advantage of theloop-holes in the laws, systems and procedures. For good
accountability, established companiesmust not only follow the rule of the law but also its spirit
through ethical practices.In spite of the few of the above lapses in Reliance, we must add that
due to Dhirubhai Ambanispassion, intensity, passion, charisma, leadership capabilities and his
favorable impact on all thestakeholders, Reliance has now become the number one company in
terms of marketcapitalization in Indian stock exchanges.
CONCLUSION
Dhirubhai Ambani
was not just an exceptional human but also an outstanding leader. A man far ahead of his times,
he epitomized the dauntless entrepreneurial spirit. He dared to dream on ascale unimaginable
before in Indian industry. His life and achievements prove that backed byconfidence, courage
and conviction, man can achieve the impossible. From a humble beginning,he went on to create
an enviable business empire within a span of just 25 years.The Rs.60, 000 crore Reliance Group
is a living testimony to his indomitable will, single-mindeddedication and an unrelenting
commitment to his goals. Under Shri Dhirubhai Ambani'svisionary leadership, the Reliance
Group emerged as the largest business conglomerate in India,and carved out a distinct place for
itself in the global pantheon of corporate giants. The Group'strack record of consistent growth is
unparalleled in Indian industry and perhaps internationallytoo. Today, the Group's turnover
represents nearly 3 percent of India's GDP. Shri DhirubhaiAmbani was not just firmly rooted in
traditional Indian values, but was also the quintessentiallymodern man, the man of the new
millennium. This was clearly reflected in his passion for mega-sized projects, the most advanced
technology and the highest level of productivity.The corporate philosophy he followed was short,
simple and succinct - "Think big. Think differently. Think fast. Think ahead. Aim for the best.
He inspired the Reliance team to dobetter than the best - not only in India but in the world.
Prestigious awards and titles wereconferred on him by national and international organizations.
He was acclaimed as the topbusinessman of the twentieth century and lauded for his dynamic,
pioneering and innovativegenius. His success story fired the imagination of the younger
generation of Indianentrepreneurs, business leaders and progressive companies. He was an icon
for them, a rolemodel to be emulated. The number of revolutionary precedents set by Shri
Dhirubhai Ambani isa legion. His unique vision redefined the potential of the Indian corporate
sector as he challengedconventional wisdom in several areas. He was probably the first Indian
businessman to recognizethe strategic significance of investors and discover the vast untapped
potential of the capitalmarkets and channelize it for the growth and development of not only
Reliance but also other publicly listed companies.

It is worth noting the famous quotation of Dhirubhai Ambani in connection with conformity
withrules and regulations. He said "You should not do anything illegal. First of all, the law
should bechanged!"It is not for nothing that to date, Reliance is the largest Indian conglomerate
in terms of marketcapitalization.

REFERENCES
1.Business Maharajas Gita Piramal
2.
The Polyester Prince A biography of Dhirubhai Ambani3.
Leadership Theory & Practice Peter G. Northhouse4.
Principles & Practices Of Management Daft & Daft5.
Reliance Industries Limited Website www.ril.com