What is the Certified Strategic Business Advisor?

The Certified Strategic Business Advisor is a globally recognised professional certification by the Global Leadership Institute (GLI), designed to equip professionals with advanced competencies in Leadership & Management.

How long does this certification take?

The programme is 12 Weeks and can be completed at your own pace through our self-paced online option, or alongside live virtual sessions.

Is this certification globally recognised?

Yes. GLI certifications are internationally recognised and carry CPD credits, making them valuable for career advancement worldwide.

What level is this certification?

This is a Advanced Level certification, suitable for professionals with relevant experience or background in the field.

You can enrol by emailing info@certifications.ac, contacting us via WhatsApp at +254 722 223 084, or filling the enrolment form below.

Certified Strategic Business Advisor in India

Course Curriculum

Programme Modules

Click any module to explore the detailed curriculum topics included in this certification.

Foundations and Strategic Context of Certified Strategic Business Advisor

Certified Strategic Business Advisor: industry context, trends and professional standards
Theories and models of leadership and management
The manager's roles, responsibilities and mindset
Leadership versus management and when each is needed
Situational and adaptive leadership
Values, purpose and authentic leadership
The organisational context and operating environment
Self-awareness and the leader's identity
Building credibility and executive presence
Ethics and responsible leadership
Personal leadership development planning

Advising at Executive Level

The executive transition: from function to enterprise
Working with a board and governance
The strategic narrative
Executive presence and credibility
IT service and product mindset
Systems analysis, design and modelling
Leading in crisis and under scrutiny
Agile and product operating models
Innovation and experimentation culture
Data-driven and platform business models
Designing a technical solution or system
Object-oriented and functional design
Clean code and design patterns
Preparing financial statements

Understanding the Executive Remit

Financial reporting frameworks (IFRS/GAAP)
Executive time, attention and decision cadence
Setting and communicating strategic direction
Destination, venue and experience products
Tour and event concept design and packaging
Event planning timelines, run sheets and production schedules
Manufacturing strategies: make-to-stock, make-to-order and batch versus flow
Maintenance in production: preventive, predictive and breakdown
Costing production: standard costs, variances and the true cost of scrap
Interpreting financial statements
Telecom products, tariffs and customer lifecycles
Content strategy across platforms
Creating content that performs: formats, hooks and production
Integrated and sustainability reporting

Framing Advice a Board Can Act On

Working with a board and governance
The strategic narrative
Management accounts and dashboards
Collections strategy
Structural and strategic approaches
Investment strategy and allocation
Hedging strategies and instruments
Budget vs actual and variance
Warehouse design and layout
Supply-network design
Designing engaging online sessions
Security by design
Cost and profitability analysis

Advising Through Uncertainty

Forecasting and planning
Setting and communicating strategic direction
Leading across cultures and geographies
Habits and behaviour design
Values-based living
Brand strategy, identity and architecture
Digital marketing strategy and channels
Automated testing strategies
Emerging threats and defensive strategy
Innovation management and R&D
Service strategy, design and transition
IT strategy and business alignment
IT financial management and value
Data visualisation for finance

Governance, Independence and Candour

Executive ethics and the leader’s shadow
Working with a board and governance
Communicating financial results
Negotiation strategy and planning
Strategic customer relationships
Strategy as a coherent set of choices
Strategic positioning versus operational effectiveness
Strategic options and real options thinking
Corporate portfolio strategy and parenting advantage
Income capitalisation and investment value
How insurance works: risk pooling and the value chain
Insurance products and lines of business
Psychodynamic and psychoanalytic approaches

Advising on Leadership and Succession

Succession and the leadership pipeline
Building and running a top team
Leading through other leaders
Behaviour change and adoption of innovations
The value of customer-centricity
Innovation in service delivery
Journey and process redesign
Customer service and CX strategy
Designing voice-of-customer programmes
Sustaining strategic customer focus
Designing a service or experience improvement
Operational efficiency and productivity
Customer experience strategy

Stakeholder and Investor Relations

Stakeholder identification and analysis
Stakeholder engagement strategy
Managing expectations and influence
Building project relationships
Influencer and affiliate marketing
Building strategic customer relationships
Attachment and developmental theory
Partnership building and multi-stakeholder platforms
Relationship management and retention
Stakeholder mapping and collaboration
Influencing and presenting insights
Managing difficult stakeholders
Stakeholder mapping in banking
Negotiation and influencing
Relationship management and cross-selling

Strategic Context for Executives

Turning strategy into results
Digital transformation and IT strategy
Procurement’s contribution to organisational strategy
Category management and strategy development
Sourcing strategies and portfolio (Kraljic)
Sources of competitive advantage
Business case and strategic alignment
Strategic alignment of investments
Competitive analysis and differentiation
Product and portfolio strategy
Go-to-market and channel strategy
Competitive strategy and positioning
Setting strategic priorities and choices
Aligning teams around strategy
Strategy execution and the balanced scorecard

Financial Stewardship

Cost of accidents and prevention value
Legal, cost and feasibility analysis
Make-versus-buy and total cost of ownership
Cost and price analysis
Resource allocation and capital discipline
NGO financial management and budget-versus-actual discipline
Claims investigation and fraud indicators
Solvency, capital and prudential supervision
Vehicle financing, insurance and total cost of ownership conversations
Non-revenue water, metering and cost recovery
Professional roles, boundaries and settings
Ethics and professional standards in finance
The finance function and digital transformation
Cost concepts, classification and behaviour
Costing methods: absorption, marginal and activity-based

Risk, Governance and Assurance

Programme governance
Grant compliance and restricted funding management
NGO governance, boards and registration
Underwriting principles and risk selection
Bancassurance and digital insurance models
Vehicle documentation, compliance and consumer protection
Reporting quality and governance
Duty of care and risk management
Managing risk and difficult cases
Ethical, risk and feasibility considerations
Risk assessment and safety planning
Credit risk governance
Financial risk types and management
Market risk and VaR
Ethical principles and codes of practice

Executive Communication

Professional presentation and pitching
Reporting to leadership
Media and public communication
Facilitation, training and public presentation skills
Communicating technical information to diverse audiences
Data quality, analysis and reporting
Professional report writing and presentation
Communication and interpersonal skills
Integrated marketing communications (IMC)
Reputation and crisis communications
Professional and persuasive communication
Risk registers and reporting
Proposal development and donor reporting
The media and telecommunications landscape
Managing boundaries and dual relationships

Executive Decision Making

Root-cause analysis and problem solving
Management reporting and decision support
Capital structure and financing decisions
Ethical decision-making under pressure
Structured problem-solving and root-cause analysis
Make, buy or ally: boundary decisions
Decision support and insight
Writing advisory reports that drive decisions
Issue and problem management
Backlogs, user stories and prioritisation
Escalation and decision-making
Prioritising experience investments
Problem loans, restructuring and recovery
Capstone scoping: a real technology problem
Debugging and problem solving

Evidence for Executive Judgement

AI and predictive project analytics
Data quality and governance
Customer personas and insight
Marketing analytics and attribution
Web and campaign analytics
Customer data platforms and segmentation
Web, campaign and funnel analytics
Sales analytics and forecasting tools
Translating insight into strategy
Peer support and consultation
Baseline surveys and data collection tools
Servers, storage and data centres
Data structures and algorithms
Data analytics in audit
Cloud and data security

Legal and Regulatory Environment

Sustaining ethical, effective practice
Ethical frameworks and codes of practice
Subcontractor and supplier management
Regulation, ethics and misinformation in media and telecoms
Legal responsibilities and professional bodies
Goal setting and contracting
Record-keeping and data protection
Compliance and regulatory projects
Procurement and contract value
Procurement and contract management
Advocacy and policy engagement
The regulatory and legal environment
Regulatory change management
Employment relationship and the psychological contract
Legal and regulatory responsibility

Market and Customer Perspective

Comparable sales analysis and market evidence
Policy administration and customer service in insurance
The automotive market: segments, brands and buyers
Vehicle specifications, trims and options in customer language
Customer retention in the vehicle ownership cycle
Customer loyalty and repeat purchase in retail
Market analysis and environmental scanning
Value proposition design and messaging
The marketing concept and customer orientation
Brand safety and responsible marketing
Customer and brand health metrics
Supply market analysis
HR's role in culture, values and employer brand
Value innovation and uncontested market space
Product launch and go-to-market sequencing

Leading Change

Measuring digital transformation impact
Digital transformation roadmaps
Change management and adoption
Complaints, accountability and fitness to practise
Client feedback and satisfaction
Variations, claims and delay: managing change on site
Change talk and readiness
Habit change and behaviour design
Change control and configuration
Organisational change management
Change and adoption in projects
Digital and market transformation
Customer experience transformation
Digital and self-service transformation
Measuring CX transformation impact

Enterprise Performance Management

Psychometric and screening tools
Project KPIs and performance metrics
Quality and delivery metrics
Managing schedule and budget performance
Agile metrics and velocity
Setting objectives and marketing KPIs
Funnel, pipeline and conversion metrics
Dashboards and performance reporting
Capacity and performance management
Setting objectives, indicators and targets
Yield, productivity and profitability metrics
Leading and lagging metrics
Measuring innovation performance
Managing team performance and dynamics
High-performance team rituals and cadence

Talent and Capability

Continuing professional development
Career pathways and professional development
Measuring development impact
The learning and development profession
Feedback and developmental conversations
Career and talent development
Building a coaching culture
Measuring coaching and mentoring impact
Capability and skills frameworks
Nomination, succession and diversity
Leadership and management development
Project management plan development
Schedule development and optimisation
Team development and effectiveness
Coaching and developing team members

Operating Model

Principles of credit and the lending process
Automation, RPA and straight-through processing
IT operating models and organisation
Process and control documentation
Competitive bidding processes
Incident response process
Growth, lactation and productivity
Business process mapping
The HR function: roles, operating models and value creation
Continuous improvement of finance processes
Evidence-based improvement
Reconciliation and end-of-day processes
Operating-model and process re-engineering
Designing a banking solution or process
Productivity, collaboration and workflow tools

Technology at Enterprise Level

CRM and marketing automation platforms
Scaling technologies and business models
Digital advisory, e-extension and mobile services
Self-service and digital support
Customer service technology stack
Technology selection and integration
Emerging service technologies
Email marketing and automation
Marketing technology and the stack
Digital, mobile and internet banking
Digital disruption and the future of banking
Digital banking platforms and APIs
Payment technology and switches
Cybersecurity and fraud technology
Digital credit and alternative data

Operating Across Borders

Global and comparative HR contexts
Global sourcing and international trade
International and cross-border tax
Lessons learned and development
Driving effective, ethical outcomes
Designing and facilitating groups
Psychoeducation and workshops
Working with organisations on wellbeing
Global sourcing and trade
Designing an intervention or programme
Transfer pricing and international tax
Cross-border data and transfers

Negotiation and Difficult Conversations

Managing difficult conversations
Conflicts of interest and procurement ethics
Negotiation and conflict management
Conflict resolution and negotiation
Conflicts of interest and transparency
Commercial negotiation and value capture
Sponsorship and negotiation selling
Negotiation with clients and partners
Negotiation with buyers, suppliers and financiers
Conflict resolution over land, water and resources
Integrity, confidentiality and conflicts
Property viewings, offers and negotiation to close
Working with conflict and change
Conflicts of interest management
Conflict resolution and mediation

Standards and Improvement

Quality planning and assurance
Quality control and continuous improvement
Integrated risk and quality control
Professional standards and ethics
Continuous improvement and optimisation
Professional case study and presentation
Evidence-based practice
Treatment planning and review
Benchmarking against standards and best practice
Continuous improvement and lessons learned
Sustainability certification and standards
Governance of service standards
Continuous improvement in service
Driving measurable service improvement
Service quality and turnaround metrics

Ethics and Integrity

Ethics and integrity in banking
Professional ethics and banking conduct
Anti-corruption and financial-crime ethics
Responsible and sustainable banking
Data ethics and customer privacy
Ethics and independence
Ethics in communications
Corporate social responsibility communications
Ethics and suitability
Ethics and transparency in tax
Responsible and sustainable governance
Embedding responsible business
Ethics, confidentiality and professional conduct in HR
Ethics and duty of care
Professional ethics and duty of care

Portfolio and Delivery Oversight

Delivery, quality and stakeholder plan
Project initiation and chartering
Integrated project planning
Project management software and tools
Project data, reporting and analytics
Portfolio and resource management systems
Automation in project delivery
Emerging project technologies
Programme management principles
Programme governance and assurance
Measuring programme success
Project budgeting and financial control
Financial risk in projects
Realising and measuring project value
Capstone scoping: a real project or programme

Culture and Engagement

Engagement and motivation
Measuring engagement and impact
Awareness and security culture
Learning cultures and the learning organisation
Engagement, motivation and energisers
Managing complexity and comorbidity
Employee engagement models and drivers
Safety culture and leadership
Managing resistance and engagement
Worker engagement and empowerment
Innovation culture, incentives and psychological safety
Creating a coaching culture
Workplace and organisational contexts
Strengths, flow and engagement
Meaning, purpose and values

Growth and Innovation Oversight

Managing growth, risk and resilience
Innovation and fintech collaboration
Supplier development and innovation
Innovation portfolio and the three horizons
Intellectual property and defensibility of innovation
Business model design and innovation
Emerging tools and innovation
Innovation and continuous delivery
Innovation and new product launch
Measuring growth and transformation impact
Data-driven growth
Goal setting and action planning

Sustainability and Responsibility

Accountability and follow-through
Sustainability and environmental duty
Environmental management systems (ISO 14001)
Environmental monitoring and reporting
Continuous environmental improvement
Integration with quality and environment
Supply markets and the enabling environment
Sustainable procurement principles and standards
Environmental, social and governance (ESG)
Sustainability reporting and disclosure
Embedding sustainability in sourcing
Social media management: platforms, communities and algorithms
Measurement and analytics for media and social campaigns
The project environment and stakeholders
Sustainability and social impact in projects

Teams and Forums

Wellbeing and resilience coaching
Group dynamics, facilitation and community mobilisation
Leading service teams
Team leadership in customer service
Team leadership in banking operations
Measuring coaching outcomes
Facilitation skills and presence
Virtual and hybrid facilitation
Facilitation, coaching and mentoring
Outcome and process measures
Team formation and effectiveness models (Tuckman, Lencioni)
Team leadership in sales and marketing
Cross-functional and matrix teams
Leading remote and hybrid teams
Team diversity and inclusion

Frequently Asked Questions

Common Questions

What is the CSBA certification?

Yes. GLI certifications are recognised across 100+ countries and are aligned with recognised global leadership and management competency frameworks. Graduates receive a digital certificate, a physical certificate and CPD credits recognised by employers worldwide.

Who should enrol in the CSBA?

This certification is ideal for Managers and Team Leaders, Heads of Department and Directors, Senior Executives and Aspiring Leaders and Business Owners and Entrepreneurs, and other professionals seeking to formalise their expertise in strategic leadership, organisational management and business transformation with a globally recognised credential.

How long does the CSBA certification take to complete?

The programme is structured over 12 Weeks and offers flexible learning modes. Self-paced learners can progress at their own schedule, while live virtual participants follow a structured cohort schedule with facilitator-led sessions.

Is the CSBA internationally recognised?

What is the cost of the CSBA certification?

The Certified Strategic Business Advisor is offered in two formats: Self-Paced at USD 449 and Live Virtual at USD 649. Corporate group rates are available for organisations enrolling 5 or more participants. Contact GLI for a bespoke corporate training quotation.

What does the CSBA certification include?

Enrolment includes all study materials and study guides, access to GLI's online learning portal, online examination, digital certificate and badge, physical certificate (posted), CPD credits, GLI alumni network membership, and ongoing facilitator support.

What is the assessment format for the CSBA?

The Certified Strategic Business Advisor is assessed through an online examination consisting of multiple-choice questions, case study analysis, and practical application assignments. The assessment is designed to evaluate real-world competency, not just theoretical recall.

What CPD credits do I earn from the CSBA?

The Certified Strategic Business Advisor carries Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credits, which can be applied towards professional body requirements including recognised international professional associations.

Can I study the CSBA while working full-time?

Absolutely. The self-paced option is designed for busy working professionals and allows you to study when and where it suits you. Live virtual sessions are typically scheduled in the evenings or on weekends to accommodate professional commitments.

What career outcomes can I expect from the CSBA?

Graduates progress towards executive, director and C-suite leadership roles. The CSBA strengthens your expertise in strategic leadership, organisational management and business transformation and positions you for advancement across corporates, public institutions, NGOs and enterprises.

Certified Strategic Business Advisor