Developing a new strategy deployment map to support clean water access

Dating back to 1945, Grundfos is one of the world’s leading pump manufacturers established in Denmark. Now Grundfos’ operations span the globe with more than 19,000 employees bringing pioneering solutions to the world’s water and climate challenges and improving the quality of life for people.

 
Grundfos formulated the Grundfos Strategy 2025, and at the core of this strategy is the company’s aspiration to become a leading water technology company and their desire to make a positive contribution to the world.
 
The Grundfos Strategy 2025 came to daylight in 2020, the same year that Grundfos prepared an implementation of an entirely new organisational structure; for many years, the customer-facing organisation of Grundfos was organised primarily along a geographical dimension, and otherwise, the organisational structure was by function. To make the company even more future-proof and customer oriented, Grundfos’ business was reorganised into four global performance units covering Domestic Building Services, Commercial Building Services, Industry and Water Utility.
 
 
 

The challenge

In the light of the new strategy and organisational structure, Grundfos needed to develop distinct strategy deployment maps for each of the individual segments – based on and reflecting the overall Grundfos Strategy 2025. Grundfos asked Implement Strategy to co-create a clear and coherent strategy for several of the performance units – including the Water Utility performance unit.
 
Water Utility is at the centre of the Grundfos purpose and mandate to drive sustainability initiatives around providing safe water to underserved communities. It consists of two different segments – the Municipal and Ground Water and Irrigation.
 
In the former, Grundfos is supporting public water systems, and in the latter, it primarily supplies submersible pumps for the collection of groundwater. The two segments have significantly different strategic realities in terms of market size and development, customer characteristics and product portfolio among others. Accordingly, the strategy design process had to be constructed to treat the two streams in Water Utility distinctly.
 
 
 

The solution

Strategy is about making choices about how to be different, and often, the essence of strategy is choosing what not to do. Co-creating the strategy with Grundfos, we focused on the key questions which cascade logically from the first to the last:

1. What are our aspirations in Water Utility?
2. Where will we play?
3. How will we win?
4. What capabilities must be in place?
5. What management systems must be in place?

Together with key stakeholders in the Water Utility unit, Implement Strategy delved deeper into each of these questions. The strategic questions explored and uncovered among others:

1. Which markets to grow? Which value chain positions to conquer? Which technologies to engage?
2. How will Water Utility position ourselves in the chosen playing field? How will we add value across business segments and exploit synergies?
3. What capabilities and assets are needed to develop and maintain across Water Utility to support the overarching Grundfos Strategy 2025? What are the core management and operating capabilities?

Activation of the stakeholders across the globe and their high-level engagement in purposeful discussions were at the core of developing Water Utility’s strategy deployment map. Over 30 key stakeholders across the globe were involved throughout the process.
 
 
 

The impact

After two months, a new strategy deployment map had been created for Water Utility – individually tailored to the two subsegments in Water Utility and clearly reflecting the Grundfos Strategy 2025.
 
Water Utility now has a clear direction, clear investment priorities and a clear view on what capabilities are needed.