This page starts with the Coverage Map for the OCEB Business Advanced Examination - a list of the topics and subtopics covered, and the percentage of the exam that each occupies. Following the Coverage Map is the list of references, along with suggestions for study.

OCEB BUSINESS ADVANCED EXAM - REFERENCE LIST

This is a list of suggested references that is neither required, nor complete. It is not expected that anyone accumulate this exact library of references to study for the exam.  We realize there are a few topics listed in the Coverage Map above that are not represented by explicit book or page references in this Study Material section, but we know that the capable Advanced Level BPM Practitioner can find them, either in one of the listed references, or in a source of its own.

About Wikipedia: In general, we have found Wikipedia articles to be good sources of basic knowledge about topics covered by the OCEB examinations, but we have not listed any Wikipedia articles as sources here. We do not feel right about referencing an article that can change from minute to minute – making it possible for an article that reads perfectly well when one person studies it, to be incorrect (or, at least, inconsistent with an OCEB examination question) when another person studies from it later that day, or the next. We expect that many candidates will find Wikipedia a useful starting point for their study, although we expect those at Intermediate and Advanced level will to go beyond Wikipedia for material on many topics.

Books:

The BPM experts who mapped the coverage and wrote the questions for the OCEB examinations found that no single book covered the range of material that a well-rounded BPM practitioner needs to know. In our lists for the different examinations, you'll find the books that we used to write the questions, but we don't think it's necessary to study this exact set in order to do well on the exam. In the entry for each book, we've listed the topics we covered from it; if you have another book that covers the same topics, or can find an alternate source somewhere else (such as on the Web), we suggest you use it instead of investing in a book that nearly duplicates it.

• Business Modeling: A Practical Guide to Realizing Business Value
  David Bridgeland and Ron Zahavi - MK/OMG Press, 2008
  Note: The referenced chapter on Model Value Analysis for free download here.

• Business Process Change, Second Edition
  Paul Harmon - Morgan Kaufman, 2007. 
  Chapter 4 (sections covering Business Process Architecture, and Core, Support, and Management Processes)
                  8 ( Process Problems)
• Business Process Management - the third wave
  Howard Smith, Peter Fingar - Meghan Kiffer, 2006
•  The Real-Time Enterprise
  Peter Fingar and Joe Bellini - Meghan Kiffer, 2004

• Change Management – the People Side of Change
  Jeffrey Hiatt and Timothy Creasey - Prosci, 2003 (Paperback)
  Chapters 1-6. 
  Note: This topic gets a section of the exam all to itself. If you use an alternate source, be sure to study people change management, not engineering change management.

• Building the Agile Enterprise with SOA, BPM, and MBM
  Fred Cummins - Morgan Kaufmann/OMG Press, 2008
  Chapters 1
                    2
                    9
  Note: or an alternate source on the Enterprise view of SOA, agility, and their effects on business requirements.

• Enterprise Architecture as Strategy: Creating a Foundation for Business Execution
  Jeanne W. Ross et al, - Harvard Business School Press, 2006
  Chapters 1-4 (covering types of Enterprise Architecture and choosing the right one for your enterprise)
• Business Process Improvement: The breakthrough Strategy for Total Quality, Productivity, and Competitiveness
  H. James Harrington - McGraw-Hill, 1991
  Chapter 2 (especially the section on the process owner, or another reference on process owner responsibilities)
• Smart (Enough) Systems
  James Taylor and Neil Raden - Prentice Hall, 2007
  Chapters 1 & 2 (Enterprise Decision Management basics)
                    9 (Introducing EDM to your enterprise, through the section on Phase 2)

• LEAN for Dummies
  Natalie Sayer and Bruce Williams - Wiley, 2007
  Chapters 1 & 2 (The foundation, basic structure, and vocabulary of LEAN)
  Note: or another suitable reference on these topics

• Strategy; Create and Implement the Best Strategy for your Business
  Harvard Business School (editor), Subject Adviser, David J. Collis - Harvard Business School Publishing USA 2005. 
  Note: The Business Advanced examination touches on business strategy. Experienced practitioners probably don’t need to study this topic, but others might. This primer contains a lot of good information for a very reasonable price. You need only read the basics to be prepared for this exam, but you’ll need more than that to be prepared for the world of business!

Books about GRC and other industry frameworks are listed in their own section, below.

Papers (All downloadable free):

For four topics, we’ve included multiple references, grouped together (in random order) under a heading. You may decide to study only one or a few, figuring that will cover enough material (although you’re the one making the decision on which reference to use, and when to stop), but if you read more than one, and especially if you browse the web for additional material, you’ll get a better picture of the range of opinions and possible solutions on that topic – a wider point of view that will serve you well when you’re in a responsible position and have to pick a solution, or defend your choice of solution as consistent with industry best practice.

• OCEB, Definition of Business Process
• Laury Verner, The Challenge of Process Discovery. BPTrends, May, 2004
• Michael Rosemann, Process Portfolio Management.
• Corporate social responsibility Guide, UK government BusinessLink

• Georgina Gonzalez and Karpagam Sankaran, Hypothesis Testing
  Note: Skip the last section on Environmental Sampling

• These four references cover BPM Center of Excellence:
  • Madhat Gala, Center of Excellence: The Path to Process Innovation Success, DM Review Magazine, Sept. 1, 2008
  • Glenn Smith, Starting the BPM Center of Excellence, Appian, August 2008 (posted with permission)
  • Ken Vollmer, The EA View: BPM Has Become Mainstream OR this article based on the report: Rich Seeley, Forrester Details “Secret Sauce” for BPM Success, downloadable here.
  • Richardson, Clay, Process Governance Best Practices: Building a BPM Center of Excellence.
• These three references cover Information Assurance:
  • Lawrence R. Rogers, Principles of Survivability and Information Assurance.
  • Edward S Ferrara, The Need for Information Assurance in the 21st Century.
  • NIST Special Publication 800-30. Risk Management Guide for. Information Technology Systems.
• These six references cover BP and Quality Assurance:
  • Judy McKay, Quality Doesn't Just Happen.
  • James Eckle interviews Judy McKay, The secrets of successfully managing techies.
  • Elisabeth Hendrickson, Managing Technical People (When You're No Techie).
  • Andrew Brandt, Stupid QA Tricks: Colossal Software Testing Oversights.
  • Daniel J. Madison, The Five Implementation Options to Manage the Risk in a New Process.
  • Marvin Wurtzel, The Marriage of BPM and Six Sigma.
• These five references cover Business Case for BPM, and Adoption Topics
  • LogicManager, The Challenge of BPM Adoption
  • Sandy Kemsley’s review: Accelerating BPM Adoption Through An Integrated Business Framework.
  • Computer Business Review, Return of the Process Note: Originally entitled "Making a Business Case for BPM", a title that we found more descriptive. 
  • FSN, Quantifying the benefits of BPM.

  • BPTrends, Making the Case for BPM: A Benefits Checklist 

OMG and other Specifications (All Downloadable free):

• Business Process Modeling Notation specification (BPMN), V1.1
  In the Advanced examination, questions may draw on any of the BPMN elements and constructs covered in the two previous examinations. Attributes are not emphasized in this examination.
• Business Process Maturity Model Specification, V1.0
  Chapters 7-10
                    12 (details of the structural components are not covered in the exam)
   13.1 – 13.2 (the definition of Institutionalization)

Industry Frameworks:

Unlike the previous examinations which focused on particular frameworks, the Business Advanced examination is organized around topics. We listed the broad topics near the top in the description of topic 5 – Compliance and Assurance. In this list of sources, we list the topics covered in a bit more detail. If you already have or can find a good alternative source on a topic, you should do well on that part of the exam without studying from the exact book listed here.

• Corporate Governance Best Practices: Strategies for Public, Private, and Not-for-Profit Organizations
  Frederick D. Lipman and L.Keith Lipman - Wiley, 2006
  Chapters 1 & 2 (Corporate governance principles and best practice)
• Simple Tools and Techniques for Enterprise Risk Management
  Robert J. Chapman - Wiley, 2006
  Chapter 1 ( basics of Risk Management)
                 4 (Internal Control and Risk Management)
               17 (Operational Risk Management)
• Compliance Management for Public, Private, or Nonprofit Organizations
  Michael G. Silverman - McGraw-Hill, 2008
  Chapter 3 (Compliance and Ethics, which actually covers a range of barriers to compliance)
                  5 (Managing Compliance – Goals and Structure)
                11 (Evaluating Compliance)

• Quality Engineering Handbook
  Thomas Pyzdek and Paul A. Keller, 2nd revised edition - CRC, 2003
  Note: or an alternate source on quality assurance, quality management, and quality frameworks.