Managing opportunities is an ongoing, integral part of corporate activity. To be successful over the long term, we consolidate and improve on what we have already achieved and create new opportunities. The Fresenius Group and its business segments are organized and managed in a way that enables us to identify and analyze trends, requirements, and opportunities in our often fragmented markets, and to focus our actions accordingly. We maintain regular contact and dialog with research groups and scientific institutions to explore new prospects, and keep a close watch on markets and competitors in order to identify opportunities. Within the Group, opportunities and synergies can be exploited through continuous communication involving the exchange of information and know-how between the business segments. As part of our strategic and operational budgeting process, we identify and analyze short-, medium-, and long-term opportunities and risks. Opportunities can also be assessed systematically in our risk management process. We discuss opportunities in the Outlook section.