A Success Story of Reliance Infocomm in a Mature Market
1. INTRODUCTION
What kind of a company enters an industry with competitors already entrenched? Which ones actually succeed? The answer to both the questions is Reliance Infocomm now known as Reliance Communication. Reliance Infocomm is a confident and smart company that was able to enter a saturated and highly competitive industry, and emerge at the top. The cut-throat competition in the telecommunication sector of India posed a great threat to the development of Reliance Infocomm. Many other cellular service providers who tried to enter the market have failed miserably. So, what helped Reliance Infocomm in emerging at the top? How did it manage to compete in the industry though it entered late in the race?
This paper tries to offer the answers to the above questions. It discusses the innovative strategies adopted by Reliance Infocomm to revolutionize telecommunication in India. Specifically the paper takes a look at the new exemplars in cost competence, marketing and organization development which helped Reliance Infocomm to reduce costs and increase volumes. The first part of the paper discusses the scale and complexity involved in shaping the Reliance Infocomm vision into reality. The second part looks at the cost strategies adopted by the company, while the third part looks at the steps taken by the organization to lay its foundation and expand into various fields of telecommunication.
2. HISTORY
Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002) started the Reliance Commercial Corporation in a 350 Sq. Ft. room with a telephone, one table and three chairs. The primary business of Reliance Commercial Corporation was to import polyester yarn and export spices. He started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966 (The Origin Of 2007) . After success in the textile industry Reliance slowly ventured into petroleum, petrochemicals, energy, finance, engineering and telecommunication sectors. Reliance was the first Indian company to be listed in the Fortune
What kind of a company enters an industry with competitors already entrenched? Which ones actually succeed? The answer to both the questions is Reliance Infocomm now known as Reliance Communication. Reliance Infocomm is a confident and smart company that was able to enter a saturated and highly competitive industry, and emerge at the top. The cut-throat competition in the telecommunication sector of India posed a great threat to the development of Reliance Infocomm. Many other cellular service providers who tried to enter the market have failed miserably. So, what helped Reliance Infocomm in emerging at the top? How did it manage to compete in the industry though it entered late in the race?
This paper tries to offer the answers to the above questions. It discusses the innovative strategies adopted by Reliance Infocomm to revolutionize telecommunication in India. Specifically the paper takes a look at the new exemplars in cost competence, marketing and organization development which helped Reliance Infocomm to reduce costs and increase volumes. The first part of the paper discusses the scale and complexity involved in shaping the Reliance Infocomm vision into reality. The second part looks at the cost strategies adopted by the company, while the third part looks at the steps taken by the organization to lay its foundation and expand into various fields of telecommunication.
2. HISTORY
Dhirubhai Ambani (1932-2002) started the Reliance Commercial Corporation in a 350 Sq. Ft. room with a telephone, one table and three chairs. The primary business of Reliance Commercial Corporation was to import polyester yarn and export spices. He started his first textile mill at Naroda, in Ahmedabad in the year 1966 (The Origin Of 2007) . After success in the textile industry Reliance slowly ventured into petroleum, petrochemicals, energy, finance, engineering and telecommunication sectors. Reliance was the first Indian company to be listed in the Fortune
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