Strategic Business Leader (SBL)

COURSE DESCRIPTION

The Strategic Business Leader exam is designed to mirror the workplace and requires you to demonstrate a blend of technical, ethical and professional skills. It tests your ability to function as an accountant in a simulated workplace and asks you to respond to requests from people in various roles. It won’t only be the technical quality of your answer that matters, but how professional your response is.

How to approach the Strategic Business Leader (SBL) exam

SBL is a 4 hour integrated case study which examines a breadth of organisational functions. It assesses not only technical and ethical
skills but the professional skills expected of effective leaders and advisers to senior management.

The rationale for the syllabus can be summarised as follows:

• Leadership and governance
• Strategy requires an understanding of risk management
• Technology and data analytics are transforming businesses
• Organisational control includes internal audit
• Financial aspects support decision making
• Innovation, performance excellence and change management are essential to organisational success.

LEARNING OUTCOMES

On successful completion of this paper, candidates should be able to:

• Apply excellent leadership and ethical skills to set the ‘tone from the top’ and promote a
  positive culture within the organisation, adopting a whole organisation perspective in
  managing performance and value creation.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of the governance and agency system of an organisation and
  recognise the responsibility of the board or other agents towards their stakeholders,
  including the organisation’s social responsibilities and the reporting implications.
• Evaluate the strategic position of the organisation against the external environment and
  the availability of internal resources, to identify feasible strategic options.
• Analyse the risk profile of the organisation and of any strategic options identified, within a culture of responsible risk management
•  Select and apply appropriate information technologies and data analytics, to analyse factors affecting the organisation’s value chain to identify strategic opportunities and implement strategic options within a framework of robust IT security controls.
• Evaluate management reporting and internal control and audit systems to ensure compliance and the achievement of organisation’s objectives and the safeguarding of organisational assets
• Apply high level financial techniques from the Applied Skills exams in the planning, implementation and evaluation of strategic options and actions..
• Enable success through innovative thinking, applying best in class strategies and disruptive technologies in the management of change; initiating, leading and organising projects,while effectively managing talent and other business resources.
• Apply a range of Professional Skills in addressing requirements within the Strategic Leader examination and in preparation for, or to support, current work experience.