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WATER SCENE Feature
German Water Partnership (GWP):
A network on the
road to success
GWP sees itself as a network
designed to establish the German
water management industry on the
international markets.
Reference works of all type
– digital or analogue – define
strategy (Ancient Greek:
strategós, the general, the commander)
as “a long-term tactical
striving towards a goal, taking
the available means and resources
into consideration.”
Almost the very same definition
can be found in the relevant
publications, a definition as
understood in the conventional
sense by the business world: “a
behavioural pattern employed
by companies and mainly
planned in the long term in order
to achieve their goals.”
Strategy determines the success;
putting it in a nutshell, one
could also say that strategy is
the art of doing the right things,
with the right people, in the
right place and at the right time.
The Canadian Professor of
Management Studies, Henry
Mintzberg, defines strategy in
terms of five Ps, namely “Strategy
is:
❙ a Plan (a planned strategy)
❙ a Pattern (the strategy implemented)
❙ a Position (the position on the
market)
❙ a Perspective (how goals are
achieved)
❙ a Ploy (a manoeuvre for surviving
in a competitive environment)”.
In principle, German Water
Partnership (GWP) also acts in
accordance with these five Ps,
which create transparency, systematics,
structure and strategic
orientation for everyone. This is
necessary and offers additional
clarity as GWP monitors different
goals simultaneously, goals
which each require different
strategies.
In addition, strategies are supported
by means of tactical elements
which can be implemented
at short notice in
operating business.
A plan – the planned
strategy
In cooperation with its members
from companies, professional
associations and research establishments
from the German
water sector, GWP has dedicated
itself to four core issues:
Position of the “German Water Partnership” brand
❙ a safe water supply
❙ efficient water treatment
❙ sustainable water usage
❙ capacity development
These goals are to be fulfilled
for as many people as possible,
German Water Partnership at IFAT ENTSORGA 2010 in Munich Image 1
particularly in developing and
threshold countries.
The long-term goal is therefore
to give these people access to
clean water, to ensure careful
wastewater treatment and sanitation
facilities as well as the
recirculation of the resource, to
protect water as a resource for
coming generations, and finally
to establish a global capacity
development concept so that the
UN millennium goals can be
reached.
This requires shared strengths
with experience, expertise and
know-how. And this is exactly
what German Water Partnership
has brought together under one
roof. Here you can find the experience,
expertise and knowhow
of the German water management
industry and research
community, among the most
powerful in the world. Here is
where everything comes together
and here is where multifaceted
support at political level
comes into play via the five
Federal Ministries: BMU (Environment),
BMBF (Research),
BMZ (Cooperation), BMWi
(Economy) and the Federal
Foreign Office, which acts as an
additional reinforcing component.
With such a powerful
network, partners outside Germany
have a central contact
person at their disposal for any
water-related queries they may
have.
The GWP partners and members
– all of whom have been
incorporated into this network
– act as guarantors for longlasting,
high-quality, fail-safe
and up-to-date products and
solutions as well as for a reliable,
qualified and effective
service.
Close cooperation between all
partners ensures that German
expertise, experience and knowhow
are harnessed throughout
the world in such a way that
the goals which have been set
can be reached. The planned
strategy, Plan (1), has thus been
clearly defined.
A pattern – the strategy
implemented
In the search for a pattern which
had led to success, i.e. for a
strategy which has already been
implemented, GWP can point to
6 INTERNATIONAL
2011