Executive Certificate in Global Business Essentials

Develop a well-rounded business skill set to successfully drive actionable global results by enhancing your global business knowledge.

Enhance your understanding of global business essentials focusing specifically on marketing, leadership and finance to increase your global effectiveness and marketability. Use the skills learned in your business essentials certificate to define and implement global strategies that will positively drive results for your organization.

Thunderbird Online's three-course certificate program is comprised of courses from the Executive Certificate in Global Marketing, Executive Certificate in Global Leadership, and the Executive Certificate in Global Finance. Through this online business essentials certificate, you will gain both the confidence and capability to make critical global business decisions utilizing proven success-based strategies.


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Real-World Benefits



  • Enhance your understanding of tactics for developing competitive advantages by creating customer value.
  • Discover the fundamentals of global marketing strategy and marketing analysis including customer, competitor and company analysis.
  • Understand major tactics and tools used by global marketers to facilitate the management of their international marketing plans.
  • Discover and define the traits and behaviors of a sophisticated global leader.
  • Lead through employee empowerment so your team can perform and develop utilizing their key strengths.
  • Develop an understanding of how to retain the balance between your team’s strengths and weaknesses to enhance cooperation.
  • Focus on understanding the necessary skills and strategies for effectively analyzing a capital project across borders.
  • Develop tactics for extracting information from financial statements in order to analyze the operating, investing and financing activities of a company.
  • Learn the fundamentals of foreign exchange, the parity conditions and the various foreign currency exposures faced by multinational firms.
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Online courses begin the first Monday of every month.

To receive your Executive Certificate in Global Business Essentials, you must register for and complete each of the three component courses online.


To earn the Executive Certificate or individual "certificates of completion," participants are required to:

  • Submit two discussion board postings to Week 4 & Week 8 Discussion Boards
  • Complete the End-of-Course Assessment with a score of 70% or higher
  • Complete the End-of-Course Survey

Thunderbird Online's Executive Certificate in Global Business Essentials is geared toward business associates and emerging leaders who require a well-rounded global business education focused on the fundamentals of marketing, leadership and finance.

Who Should Enroll?

  • Working Professionals – Improve your marketability in today's global marketplace.
  • Experienced Executives – Gain expertise in a global business focus area.
  • Potential MBA Candidates – Get a taste of the Thunderbird MBA by enrolling in your online certificate. Thunderbird's tuition credit program will grant you up to $5,000 toward your Thunderbird degree program.
  • Post MBA – Focus on a specific business area to enhance your global knowledge.

The Global Marketing Strategy Essentials course is led by Thunderbird Professor Lauranne Buchanan, Ph.D.,an Associate Professor of Global Marketing at Thunderbird School of Global Management. She is also the Academic Director of Thunderbird's Modules Abroad in the full-time MBA program, run in conjunction with the Czech Management Center in the Czech Republic and Instituto Technologico y de Estudios de Monterrey in Mexico. Her expertise is international marketing, channel management, and customer satisfaction and global value measurement.

The Understanding Global Leadership course is led by Thunderbird Professor Christine Pearson, Ph.D., Professor of Management at Thunderbird School of Global Management,who has built a worldwide reputation as one of the foremost authorities on the role of strategic
preparation in heading off workplace crises. Dr. Pearson is the co-author of "The Cost of Bad Behavior: How Incivility is Damaging Your Business and What to Do About It" which makes a business case for workplace civility.

The Finance Essentials for Global Managers course is led by Thunderbird Professor Lena Booth, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Finance in the Department of Global Business at Thunderbird School of Global Management, where she teaches Corporate Finance, Global Financial Management, and Advanced Topics in Finance such as Global Private Equity. She served as the first Executive Director of the Thunderbird Private Equity Center. Born in Malaysia and educated in Singapore and the U.S., Dr. Booth speaks and writes English, Chinese, and Malay & speaks a few Chinese dialects.
Your Thunderbird Online Executive Certificate courses include:

  • All online study materials
  • Access to the Thunderbird learning environment
  • Certificate at the completion of your course and/or Thunderbird Executive Certificate


Single Program Fee: $1,980
Three-Course Certificate Track: $4,455
(a 25% savings)

The continuing education unit (CEU) is a recognized method of quantifying participation in an organized continuing education experience under qualified instruction. One CEU is equal to 10 contact hours of time spent in such an educational experience. The main purpose of CEUs is to provide a permanent record of the educational accomplishments of an individual who has completed non-credit educational and career enhancement activities.

Each participant receives 1.5 CEUs per online course completed, equating to 4.5 CEUs for the entire online executive certificate program.

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#2 Top Open Enrollment Programs in the World
#2 "Faculty" Open Enrollment Programs
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Tuition Credit Opportunity

Earn up to $5,000 in tuition credit when you participate in a Thunderbird Online Executive Certificate. Not only do you get world-class instruction in the intricacies of global business and leadership - but you get a taste of what Thunderbird is all about. Now, you have an opportunity to expand your Thunderbird education with our exclusive tuition credit.

Next Certificate Course Starts in 19 Days!

Executive Certificate In Global Business Essentials

    Student Experiences

    "I am enrolled in my first of three classes with Thunderbird. When I was researching what my next educational step should be, one phone conversation with a Thunderbird Online representative convinced me that Thunderbird would be the most beneficial program both educationally and professionally. He told me that what you learn in Thunderbird today, you will apply in your work place tomorrow."

    "I chose a Thunderbird Online certificate because of the quality and structure of the courses. The material and information have immediate applicability to my job. The online learning programs allow me the flexibility to do the work according to my schedule within the week. I have been very impressed by the quality instruction and the structure of the online classes."

    "Thunderbird Online's courses offer a unique learning experience because of the interactive learning process, multicultural environment and easy to navigate online learning system. By taking part in the online executive certificate, I have learned how to enhance my communication style and negotiation skills which have helped me become a more successful professional in a global working environment."

    "I will be using a lot of the concepts to develop programs and to improve the global area that I manage. I know that I will be able to negotiate as more of a problem-solver and collaborator to achieve superior outcomes in the future. Thanks for all of the terrific information - great class!! "

    "The Executive Certificate in Global Negotiations was eye opening for me, and the course material has been right on the money. I have absolutely loved this certificate and know that I have learned so much that I can apply to my daily activities. It has also fueled my desire to know even more about negotiations and its processes. I look forward to my next Thunderbird course!"

    "I am very satisfied with this course, including content, Professors, e-facilitator and Thunderbird Online support. Opposed to other "book" based programs that I've taken, I thoroughly enjoyed the multi-resource educational experience including videos, readings, quizzes, and more that this program provided. "

    "I just finished my first course and I only have good things to say about it. I did my studying three evenings per week, and found it very useful. The teacher is top notch, and I am looking forward to getting the complete executive certificate."

    "I am very thankful to be learning from and sharing knowledge and experience with many other people from various backgrounds through Thunderbird Online's program. It opens the door to thinking outside the box, looking at an issue from multiple dimensions, and learning to positively resolve conflicts. Thunderbird Online is one of the best interactive tools for people to communicate and share experiences. "

    "I enjoyed the course and certainly got a lot out of it. I do believe I have benefited and will be able to take new ideas into dealing with issues and opportunities at work. I liked the case vignettes the most as they fundamentally enhanced my learning of the various topics within the course."

    "The class is well thought out. It is global and local centric in terms of what should be considered in the sustainability spectrum. As a TBird alum, I was aware of the executive education programs at the school. Thunderbird has been producing well thought out programs for over 30 years. After my career was influenced by Thunderbird, I recognized I had reached a distinctively different path. I can attest that I am pleased and look forward to completing the Thunderbird Online program. "

    "It was from recommendations from leaders in my organization that I decided to take my first Leadership course with Thunderbird. The online format happened to suit my needs perfectly in order to sustain work-life balance. Having completed this course, I can see why they spoke so highly about the program. There was enough flexibility, yet there was work to be done on time. The “organization” of the course is excellent. I wish this is how everything was taught. The course began by presenting the big picture, discussed details into each component, and then tied everything together at the end of the course. There is plenty to read, learn and enjoy! "

    "If you are a person looking to receive the skills necessary to enhance your career, but are unable to attend a MBA or EMBA, then this is the opportunity for you. The core competencies of this program are taught by the professors at the brick and mortar campus. This will help boost your resume and assist you in developing the international skills that you are looking to attain. I know people that have attended Thunderbird, and others that have taken the online certificate programs. I reiterate, this information is very similar from the degree to the certificate program, only in a condensed version. I highly recommend both programs as one of the best, if not the best, in the world! "

    "After retiring in 2007 from my role in managing change leadership, I wanted to validate my continuing career journey. I decided to enroll in an Executive Certificate from Thunderbird, and new doors were opened for me! "

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