Strategic Decision-Making Certification

The Strategic Decision-Making Certification is a free 20-minute skill test from Science of Apps. It tests strategic decisions — framing choices, options and criteria, scenario planning, reversibility, expected value, pre-mortems, biases in groups and committing to decisions. Score 70% or more on its 20 questions to earn a verifiable Strategic Decision-Making certificate (SOA-SDM). Every question is based on published standards and research — including Mind Tools (Mind Tools), Good Strategy / Bad Strategy (Richard Rumelt), Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (1974) (Tversky & Kahneman, Science) — and each answer is explained with its source.

Read the four skill areas on this page, then take the 20-minute test online — no fee, course or sign-up. You see every answer explained when you finish. Score 70% or more and you get a Strategic Decision-Making certificate straight away, on screen, as a PDF and by email, with a credential ID anyone can verify.

Yes. The questions are original scenarios written by Science of Apps, and each one is based on a public source you can read: Mind Tools (Mind Tools); Good Strategy / Bad Strategy (Richard Rumelt); Judgment under Uncertainty: Heuristics and Biases (1974) (Tversky & Kahneman, Science); What is financial modeling? (Corporate Finance Institute); OKR meaning, definition and examples (What Matters (John Doerr)); e-Handbook of Statistical Methods (NIST). The source is shown under each question and linked in the answer review. Science of Apps doesn't copy questions from other tests.

Four skill areas with five questions each, drawn from a bank of 10 per area so a retake brings new questions: Framing decisions (Defining the choice, Options and criteria and Scenario planning); Making and committing (Reversibility and expected value, Group biases and Pre-mortems and commitment); Analysis tools (SWOT and PESTLE, Porter's Five Forces and Decision matrices); Strategy execution (Translating strategy to goals, Resource allocation and Monitoring and course-correcting). Every question is an original scenario based on a published standard, official documentation or research, named under the question.

Executive, Strategy manager, Product leader, Founder and Consultant. It suits anyone who wants a quick, verifiable way to show Strategic Decision-Making skills, from students and career switchers to experienced professionals.

Yes. The test is online, in English and free everywhere — people take it from India, the US, the UK, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Asia-Pacific. Your certificate is dated with your own local date and can be verified from anywhere at scienceofapps.com/certification/verify/.

20 questions — 5 from each of 4 skill areas — with a 20-minute limit. You need 70% (14 of 20) to pass and 90% for distinction.

We rate it Advanced: assumes years in the role or deep specialist knowledge. It has 20 scenario questions — 5 from each of 4 skill areas — and a 20-minute limit. You need 70% (14 of 20) to pass and 90% for distinction.

Employers in 2027 want leaders, consultants and senior managers who make good decisions under uncertainty: framing the real choice, generating genuine options, agreeing criteria, using scenarios and expected value, matching speed to reversibility, running pre-mortems, countering group biases and then committing. Good decisions are judged by process, not just outcome. Practise on a real decision and verify your skills with a free 20-minute test. Our full career guide covers the hiring process, interview loop, pay and a prep plan: scienceofapps.com/blog/strategic-decision-making-career-guide/

Nothing. There is no fee to take a test, to receive the certificate, to have it emailed or to verify it, and no sign-up.

On our server, not in your browser. The answers never reach the page until you submit, so a certificate can only be earned by passing. Each certificate gets a unique credential ID stored by Science of Apps.

You see your score for each area and every question with the correct answer and why, with the published source behind it. You can retake after 30 minutes, and the retake draws questions you haven't seen yet.

No. Every certificate is dated, so it always shows when you passed. Retake a test any time for a newer date or a higher score.

Yes. After you pass, Add to LinkedIn opens the Licenses & certifications form with the certificate name, Science of Apps as the issuer, the issue date, your credential ID and the verification link filled in. You can also download it as a PDF or PNG, and it's emailed to you as a PDF.

Every certificate has a credential ID and a QR code. Scanning it, or entering the ID at scienceofapps.com/certification/verify/, shows the holder's name, the certification, the score and the issue date from our records.

No. They are Science of Apps' own assessments of applied skill. They aren't issued by a university or standards body, and they work best alongside a portfolio that shows the skills in real work.