About Us

Building Cocal´s strategic plan began with the definition of initial business aspirations or outcomes, an analysis of the internal and external environments, including the identification of opportunities and threats and potential implications for the business, a macro-level estimate of financial results, as well as a re-evaluation of the organization´s purpose, future vision, values, strategic drivers, and value proposition. This comprehensive approach also included the development of the Balanced Scorecard, comprising a strategic map, strategic key performance indicators (KPIs), goals, and strategic projects. Additionally, we facilitated the cascading of the strategy to key areas, helped define and implement strategy management model to monitor the execution of the company´s strategic objectives and the supporting portfolio of strategic projects.

The Symnetics team assisted Votorantim in designing and implementing a broad cultural and business transformation program for all Votorantim S.A.'s invested companies over a four-year period spanning from 2016 to 2019. This initiative engaged the entire leadership of the company, involving more than 400 professionals. The program encompassed five major themes aimed at connecting leadership with trends, fostering proactivity in creating new business models, and enhancing the entrepreneurial capabilities necessary for shaping the next 100 years of this century-old company.

Our team designed a 5-year Strategic Plan for Castrolanda, one of Brazil´s leading agro-industrial cooperatives, with direct involvement of over 800 members of the cooperative. We carried out sector-based financial and market analyses, mapping strategies for investment, maintenance, or divestment across all the cooperative´s businesses. Additionally, a strategic map with metrics, goals, and key projects were developed.
To ensure alignment between strategy and performance, we further cascaded the strategy to each business unit, establishing a performance management system that harmonized with the cooperative's overarching strategic direction. This case exemplifies our expertise in collaborative strategic planning within cooperative structures, yielding integrated and results-driven strategies.

Engaged to help develop the 2022-2026 strategic plan for Urbano Foods Family Group, the process involved aligning shareholder growth expectations taking into consideration the growth of the family, mapping, analysing, evaluating, and providing guidance on growth opportunities, as well as cascading the strategy to the core food business. It encompassed defining the purpose, revising the mission and vision for the future, establishing organizational values, crafting a strategic map, defining strategic key performance indicators, setting goals, and identifying strategic projects.

We were entrusted with the development of the long-term strategic planning for Sicredi Pioneira, the first credit union in Brazil with a history spanning over 120 years.
This comprehensive process entailed various external analyses, including market data, trends, and surveys involving associates. It also involved internal analyses encompassing financial aspects, key internal challenges and core competencies, as well as deliberations on strategic positioning. Key deliverables of the project were:
• the creation of a strategic map outlining the cooperative's long-term direction;
• the formulation of key performance indicators (KPIs) to gauge progress;
• the establishment of annual goals and transformational projects, cascading of the strategy into area-specific dashboards and action plans;
• the design of a management model for ongoing monitoring, crafting a communication plan to effectively disseminate the strategy.

From Sicredi Credit Union system´s purpose, we crafted a purpose journey within one of the local cooperatives, along with an engagement plan for key internal audiences. Key activities in shaping this journey included curating purpose-related content, such as books, texts, films, articles, videos, and cases. Additionally, we conducted numerous dialogue sessions involving various stakeholders, including the Board of Directors, Executive Management team, all Managers at branch and headquarter levels, employees, and members. We designed an implementation plan outlining the necessary actions for executing the purpose journey and composed a purpose manifesto for the cooperative, aligning it with the national system´s purpose.

We engaged in the development of the company's strategic planning through a comprehensive set of activities. This included conducting an internal diagnosis with financial analyses, mapping trends, and analyzing sector-specific competitiveness. We defined the value proposition for stakeholders, positioned the company strategically, established strategic drivers, reviewed the vision for the future and mission, designed the strategic map, indicators, goals, and strategic projects, and created a governance, management, and communication model for the strategy.

Additionally, we helped TMG cascade its strategy to all areas of the company through the development of aligned metric-based dashboards. Key outcomes were as follows:

• Enhanced clarity regarding the company's future direction and strategic choices;
• Alignment and mobilization of leadership towards the vision of the future and organizational strategic objectives;
• Increased focus and productivity at all levels, prioritizing relevant themes and drivers and key projects for delivering results;
• Improved decision-making through a simple and structured method for monitoring external factors and deviations in strategy execution;
• Enhanced communication and alignment among all employees.

We set about creating the strategic plan by first developing a deep understanding of the Foundation´s external environment and analysing key tendencies and movements in the market. We clarified its current and desired strategic goals and identified its core competencies, as well as potential organizational weaknesses and challenges that needed addressing. This process allowed us to define future strategic drivers and a growth plan, including the revision of the mission and future vision, as well as the design of the future business model and strategy map.
We also designed and prioritized a portfolio of key strategic projects. Furthermore, we cascaded the corporate strategic goals to two levels: the three directorates of FAPES and the executive management of each directorate, thereby bringing clarity about how each part of the organization contributed to the overall business strategic objectives.

Our team collaboratively developed the long-term regional Strategic Plan for Sicoob Credit Union Espírito Santo in alignment with all local cooperatives in the region.
The process involved extensive external analysis (market sector data and trends), internal analysis (key financials and core competencies) as well as in-depth discussions regarding strategic positioning.
Deliverables included a strategic map, indicators, annual goals, prioritized transformation projects, a management model for monitoring implementation, and a strategic communication plan for engaging all internal stakeholders.

One of Brazil´s largest banks, we helped implement their strategic planning process including an analysis of the internal and external environments, the definition of corporate guidelines, customer segmentation and value propositions, outlining the business model, identifying critical competencies, constructing a strategic map, establishing strategic key performance indicators and their accompanying goals, as well as formulating key strategic projects. Additionally, we facilitated the alignment and cascading of the strategy across segments and departments, mapped and prioritized strategic risks, and developed and defined strategic risk indicators (KRIs).

The project involved the creation and implementation of a decentralized innovation network within the company, with a focus on conducting market studies, enhancing customer experiences, and experimental technology projects.

We assisted the business during two consecutive strategic planning cycles, covering the periods from 2016 to 2020 and from 2020 to 2024. This strategy development process involved in-depth financial and market analyses of the business portfolio, as well as the identification of new growth pathways closely related to the company's core business.

We assisted Karsten in designing the company's Strategic Plan for 2019 -2023, which involved activities such as financial analysis, market analysis, business case development, Balanced Scorecard (BSC) development, strategy management implementation model, and support in strategy execution. The outcomes of this effort included brand repositioning, a shift in the commercial approach, and the implementation of new management and governance guidelines.