Business Black Belt
This intensive 7-day program provides a practical and holistic framework for business analysis, strategy deployment, and performance excellence.
You will explore the key pillars of modern business transformation, including Process Management, Value Stream Management, Balanced Scorecard, Hoshin Kanri, and Objectives and Key Results (OKR).
Building on this foundation, you will learn how to redesign your organization’s strategy deployment process so that it connects vision, goals, strategic initiatives, and daily improvement in a coherent and effective way.
Because successful strategy execution depends on strong improvement capabilities, the course also covers how to establish and lead a powerful Operational Excellence team and develop a corresponding Business Improvement Program with a clear transformation roadmap.
Please note that Black Belt certification requires approved completion of the Green Belt course or equivalent.
The target groups
- Leaders for operational excellence (OpEx) and improvement programs
- Managers responsible for the strategy process
- Managers responsible for the digitalization strategy
- Central line managers
- Improvement experts and key people
Important topics in this course:
- Strategic planning and implementation: Learn how to design the strategy process and effectively define and implement strategic initiatives.
- Agile governance structure: Design a governance structure for operational control, re-planning and continuous improvement.
- Balanced Scorecard (BSC) and OKR: Use BSC and OKR for the best possible strategic planning and implementation.
- Business Process Management (BPM): Use BPM to focus strategy development, ensure operational control and drive continuous improvement.
- Value Stream Management (VSM): Use VSM to improve end-to-end performance of products and services.
- Operational Excellence: Design a program with processes and roles for targeted development of organizational performance.
- Digitization projects: Use recognized improvement methods and tools for successful implementation of digitalization projects (including ERP and CRM).
- Data analysis: Use simple, yet powerful tools to build fact-based understanding and decision support.
Content
The content has been systematically developed in collaboration with several top executives and improvement experts from 2002 to the present.
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Session 1 - Understanding different strategy frameworks (3 days)
Content:
- Operating Model, Business Systems and Business Improvement Systems (BIS).
- Overall, practical model for strategy development and implementation.
- Core values and Lean management principles to shape culture.
- Hoshin Kanri as a process for strategy development and implementation.
- Balanced Scorecard and OKR as methods in the strategy process.
- Business process management (BPM) as an important component in strategy development.
- BPM to ensure operational control and continuous performance improvement.
- Value stream management as a management structure for targeted improvement of the end-to-end performance of products and services.
- Value stream mapping to focus and improve the analysis of the business ecosystem.
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Session 2 - Designing the strategy process + Data Analysis (2 days)
Content:
- Using the understanding from session 1 to design the strategy process.
- Designing the strategy roadmap and storyboard.
- The importance of living the values and priority leadership principles.
- The importance of understanding variation.
- Introduction to measurement system analysis.
- Introduction to basic data analysis tools (Histogram, Pareto Charts, Scatterplot, Correlation, Confidence Interval).
- Introduction to Regression Analysis
- Introduction to SPC (Control Charts and Capability Analysis)
Separate, more advanced courses in data analysis and experiment design are available on request.
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Session 3 - Strategy execution structures (2 days)
Content:
- Design and implementation of Operational Excellence/Improvement programs.
- Using the Business Improvement structures (BIS) for implementation of staff initiatives, including Quality, Sustainability, Compliance, Brand, HSE and HR.
- Introduction to DMADV/DADIC methods for process improvement and process design without root cause analysis.
- Using the DMAIC, DMADV/DADIC methods for better execution of digitization projects.
- Applying project and portfolio management in the business improvement work.
- Case studies.
Practical Information
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Overview of Tools and Methods
The following tools are included in this course:
- Hoshin Kanri
- Balanced Scorecard (BSC)
- Objectives and Key Results (OKR)
- Business Process Management (BPM)
- The catchball principle
- The X-matrix
- Operating model
- SWOT
- PESTLE
- Porter 5 forces
- Enterprise Process Model (EPM)
- The DMADV/DADIC method for implementing design projects
- Radar chart
- Histogram
- Pareto chart
- Scatterplot
- Correlation
- Linear regression analysis
- Design of Experiments (DoE)
- Capability studies
- Measurement system analysis (MSA)
Some of the methods and tools are described at an introductory level, others are described in depth.
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You will receive this 2 weeks before the course starts
- Agenda for the course
- Recommended preparations
- Diploma and certification requirements
- Other practical information
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Own project, diploma and certification
Diploma and certification
Diploma: To receive a diploma, you must have attended all sessions and at least 6 out of 7 course days.
Certification: To be certified Black Belt, participation in line with the requirements of the diploma (above), approved completion of the Green Belt course and approved completion of a design or improvement project within 12 months of the end of the course are required.
The project is considered approved if the project owner has approved the project and Aksena has approved the approach, tool use and documentation.
By agreement, projects other than Six Sigma projects can also be approved.
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Included in the course
The following is included in the course:
- Electronic version of the course material
- Course compendium for those who participate physically
- Lunch every day
Accommodation in connection with the course must be organized and paid for by the participants themselves.
- March 10, 2026 – March 12, 2026
- April 22, 2026 – April 23, 2026
- May 26, 2026 – May 27, 2026
