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Contributions from
the Column
InWEnt News
Dialogue and training worldwide
President Programme for Russian
managers completes five years
With the motto
Training in conflict management
for former scholarship-holders
01/2003
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Starting signal for InWEnt gGmbH
Dialogue and training worldwide
By Ulrich Popp
The merger of the Carl Duisberg
Gesellschaft e.V. (CDG) and the German Foundation for International
Development (DSE) to form the non-profit private limited
company Internationale Weiterbildung and Entwicklung (International
Advanced Training and Development) (InWEnt), was entered
in the Commercial Register of the Bonn Local Court on October 10,
2002. That act brought to a positive conclusion more than
two years’ of intensive negotiations, appraisals and preparatory
working sessions. This merger was also difficult not least
because for the first time in German legal history a registered
association and a foundation were brought together under the
umbrella of a non-profit GmbH, or private limited company.
Now, more than 900 staff of the new
organisation are working at about
30 locations in Germany and in six
offices abroad. The annual business volume
totals 133 million euros. That budget means
that every year 35,000 advanced training
guests from around the world can take part in the InWEnt international dialogue and
training programmes. The majority shareholder
in the new private limited company
is the Federal Republic of Germany, represented
by the German Federal Ministry for
Economic Cooperation and Development
(BMZ). The minority shareholders are German
commerce and industry, represented
by the CDG, and the DSE as the representative
of the German Länder (federal states).
This is how Germany’s largest joint venture
of the Federal government, the federal states
and commerce and industry for international
advanced training and staff development
arose. InWEnt also has a leading position
compared with other countries.
The InWEnt business
fields
InWEnt will focus on six business fields:-
Advanced training of experts and managers
from developing countries;
-
International professional training of
young professionals, experts and managers
from Germany and other industrialised
countries as well as transition countries;
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Policy dialogue with international organisations;
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International exchange of experience and
dialogue;
-
Development sensibilisation and education
in Germany; and
-
Training of German development cooperation
experts.
That means on the one hand that the core
sectors of the previous fields of activity of
the two organisations will be continued,
and on the other hand that new focal
points, particularly in the sector of development
sensibilisation and education, will
be set.
The GDI appraisal: The starting point of
the merger – following a suggestion by the
BMZ – was an appraisal by the German Development
Institute (GDI) of December
2000, which outlined various alternatives
for a fusion. The great number of discussions
ensuing from the appraisal, not only
with the organisations involved and their
social environment but also with the BMZ,
opened up new perspectives in terms of
content. For instance, the original intention
of fully centralising all the organisations’
structures was dropped when it became
clear what a role the ongoing collaboration
of the federal states played in the
budgets and programmes of the two ‘old’
organisations and wished to continue to
play. This realisation resulted in the decision
that InWEnt in Germany should also
in future work on a federal basis. At the
same time, that means that hopes of extensive
“merger yields” can be met only in
a limited way.
Balance of interests achieved: With
regard to the staff, there were no mergerrelated
dismissals, nor will there be. Particularly
in view of the present difficult situation
on the German job market, achieving
a balance of interests between staff members and management was of central
importance. However, the federal basis
and the agreement on locations for the
employees confront the restructuring of
the new organisation with special challenges.
Portfolio analysis: The content and instruments
of both organisations were scrutinised
closely in-house. What content was
promising for the future, which instruments
achieved the most sustainable results,
what need had not been covered so
far, what performances did the shareholders
expect, what demands did new markets
make? As a result of the analysis a comprehensive,
harmonised portfolio of modern,
innovative and forward-looking programmes
and projects that builds on the
best experiences of the forerunner organisations
is to emerge by the end of 2003
Entrepreneurial action: InWEnt will
in future, beyound financial inputs from mempublic
funds, implement contracts from
other clients, such as the EU, and be able
to earn profits which will be retained by the
company and further develop its professional
and staff strengths. This demands
new management structures and objectives
of the new company. Entrepreneurial
thinking and action by its managers is an
essential prerequisite for acquiring new
clients and positioning the new company
on the market on a lasting basis. Clear
room for manoeuvre and modern management
therefore will be part of the InWEnt
management concept which is still to be
developed.
Flexibility both in-house
and externally
The realignment of InWEnt as a central
institution of international knowledge
management requires that the further
development of in-house structures is followed by that of its external ones. In view
of the decentralisation of the EU, the World
Bank and other (especially bilateral) donor
structures, it can already be seen that capability
of on-site dialogue in the partner
regions will be a criterion for InWEnt’s
future success. External branches – not only
in Germany in the sense of a federal model,
but also in the most important partner
countries – are for InWEnt as much a central
issue as they are for its sister organisations
in the BMZ environment, such as the
Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) and
the GTZ (German Technical Cooperation).
The training centre:
Merger within the merger:
The Area Orientation Centre
in Bad Honnef faces a
special challenge. The previous
cooperation in this
field between the DSE, GTZ
and the German Development
Service (DED) became
an integral part of In-
WEnt from January 1,
2003. This gives the competence
a stronger profile, particularly in terms of intercultural communication
and preparation for the countries
in which the experts will work. It
means the Area Orientation Centre can adjust
its offer to the user even more flexibly
than before and acquire new clients – particularly
with a view to the increasing globalisation
of commerce and industry and the
growing need for managers to have intercultural
skills.
Development sensibilisation and
education as a new field of action: The
merger has given activities in Germany,
which did exist in both the old organisations,
a much greater significance. As a specific
business field, InWEnt will above all
use its presence at many locations in Germany
to promote intercultural encounter
and education. At the same time, as a mandatary
of the BMZ it will support the development
sensibilisation work of One World
groups and approch new target groups for
development-related work in Germany.
Special feature: industrialised
nations programme
As the only development cooperation
institution to do so, InWEnt truly works
worldwide. Training and qualification
courses in almost all countries of the world,
for managers, young professionals and
young working people from Germany and
other industrialised and transition nations,
present a great potential for global work.
Whoever exposes themselves to life and
work in a foreign country acquires a deeper
understanding of global interdependencies
as well as intercultural openness. German
commerce and industry is an important
partner in supporting this type of international
qualification.
Integration and leading ideas: The
company’s visions and leading ideas must
be the cornerstones of a new and common
identity of InWEnt. The path to that can
only be via a broad and participatory discussion
on the present and future programme
portfolio. This will be one of the
focal points of our further development in
the next few months. At the same time, the
new company is also faced with the challenge
of coping with the internal merger
process. Internal merger means above all
such headings as staff development, advanced
training for staff, a process and
criteria for transparent staff assessment,
a new and transparent staff rotation system
in all working areas, and achieving
common rules on procedures. This process
has got underway with external consultancy.
All staff members will have the opportunity
to engage in shaping the future
of the new enterprise, to take a personal
part in it.
Only so will InWEnt succeed in growing
to become the central institution for international
advanced training and dialogue
that its shareholders and principal clients
think it should be.
Dr. Ulrich Popp, Chief Executive Director InWEnt – Internationale Weiterbildung und
Entwicklung gGmbH
(popp@dse.de)
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