The Fundamental Exam covers basic elements of Business Essentials and Business Modeling, Business Process, Business Process Management, Business Process Modeling, and essential and widely-used industry frameworks. Holders of the OCEB Fundamental Certification have demonstrated the knowledge and modeling skills to be productive members of a BPM project team on either the Business or Technical side of the aisle.

This page starts with the Coverage Map for the OCEB Fundamental 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 FUNDAMENTAL EXAM - REFERENCE LIST

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.

• OCEB Certification Guide- Business Process MAnagement- Fundamental Leve
  Tim Weilkiens- Elsevier, 2011 [ ISBN- 978-0-12-386985

  Chapters 2 (Basic Principles of Business Management)
                    3 (Basic Principles pf Business Processes)
                    5 (Business Modeling)
                    6 (Modeling Business Processes Using BPMN)
                    7 (Frameworks)

• MBA in a Day
  Steven Stralser - Wiley, 2004 [ ISBN-10: 0471680540 ]
  Chapters 1 (Human Resources)
                    8 (Marketing, Strategy, Competitive Analysis)
                   11 (Project Management)

• The Complete Idiot's Guide to MBA Basics, 2nd Edition
  Tim Gorman - Alpha, 2003 [ ISBN-10: 0028644492 ]
  Chapters 1 & 2 (Management functions and skills)
                    3 (Parts of a Business)
                    8 (Operations Management)
                    9 (Business Decisions)
                   13 (Financial Analysis)
                   23 (Strategic Planning)
• Business Process Management Systems
  James F. Chang - Auerbach, 2006 [ ISBN-10: 084932310X ]
  Chapters 1 (Theories of Process Management)
                    2 (Business Process Management)
• Business Process Management: The Third Wave, Fourth Anniversary Edition
  Howard Smith & Peter Fingar - Meghan-Kiffer, 2007 [ ISBN-10: 0929652347 ]
  Chapters 1 (Discusses the Rise of BPM)
                    3 (Enterprise Business Processes)
  Appendix A (Section A: Foundation for Collaborative Commerce)
• Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach
  Martyn Ould - Meghan-Kiffer, 2005 [ ISBN-10: 0929652274 ]
  Chapter   1 (Basic Process Concepts)

Papers (All downloadable free): 

• OCEB, Definition of Business Process 

• John Hall, Overview of OMG Business Motivation Model: Core Concepts.  
  Note: If you're new to the BMM, this paper by one of its principal authors will get you started, but you'll still need to study all of the sections assigned in the specification reference (below). 

• Bruce Silver, Three Levels of Process Modeling with BPMN, BPMS Watch, April 2008. 
  Note: Does not require registration, in spite of the wording of the link.

• Daniel J. Madison, Becoming A Process-Focused Organization, BPM Institute, 2007.

• Peter Fingar, Systems Thinking: The "Core" Core Competency for BPM,, BPTrends, September 2005.

• Laury Verner, The Challenge of Process Discovery, BPTrends, May 2004. (Free download)

• Ed Walters, What are CSFs and KPIs?
  Note: viewable but not downloadable free (may reference another tutorial on Critical Success Factors and Key Performance Indicators).

OMG Specifications (All Downloadable free): 

• Business Process Maturity Model Specification, V1.0 
  Chapters 1
                  2 (Section 2.1)

• Business Motivation Model Specification, V 1.0   
  Chapters 1
                    7
                    8 

• Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN), V1.1   
  Note: BPMN Attributes are not covered in this examination.
  Chapters 1
                  7
                  8 (Sections 8.1, 8.2, 8.3, 8.4, 8.6 excluding 8.6.1)
                  9 (Sections  9.3, 9.4, 9.5, 9.6, 9.7, excluding sections defining Attributes)
                 10 (excluding only section 10.1.1)

Industry Frameworks:

There are simply too many relevant industry frameworks to cover in any detail, for this part of the  examination we have chosen breadth over depth:  Every BPM Practitioner needs to be aware of these widely used frameworks - the topic each covers, and highlights of the way each one organizes its domain - so the OCEB Fundamental examination covers these key characteristics, but does not go deeper. Many practitioners will specialize in one of these frameworks, learning its details and seeking the specialized additional certification offered by these frameworks' sponsoring organization. Many of the frameworks are covered by definition or description documents, referenced here,  which may be downloaded free directly from their sponsoring organization's website. For Six Sigma and Balanced Scorecard, you will probably do equivalently well studying from the books listed here or from tutorial material that you locate yourself by Internet search. Regulatory Compliance and Governance is a serious topic, and we think every BPM practitioner should be aware of both general aspects and a number of specific standard and regulatory frameworks including those covered here. The book we list  would be an asset in any BPM practitioner's library, but is not the only source of reliable information on the topics covered.  

• Six Sigma for Dummies
  Craig Gygi et al - Wiley, 2005 [ ISBN-10: 0764567985 ]
  Chapters 1 (Defining Six Sigma, Introductory section)
                    3 (Pinpointing the Essentials of Six Sigma,  Introductory section and first section, The Project Strategy: DMAIC)
                   10 (Locking in the Gains, covering basics of process control and control charts)
  Note: Any good introductory book or reference on Six Sigma will prepare well for the awareness-level coverage in the OCEB Fundamental examination. 

• APQC Process Classification Framework, V 5.0.3
  Downloadable here. (PDF version, which is the default.) Pages 1-3. 

• Supply Chain Council's Supply-Chain Operations Reference model (SCOR), v9.0
  Overview Booklet downloadable here or v10.0 downloadable here. Overview and basic structure as presented in V9.0 on, e.g., pp 2, 3, 7, 8; or in v10.0 on pp 6, 11, 12. 

• Introduction to the Value Reference Model (VRM)
  First two sections. 

• The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action
  Robert S. Kaplan, David P. Norton - Harvard Business School Press, 1996 [ ISBN-10: 0875846513 ] Chapter 1. 
  Note: Any good basic book or introductory article on Balanced Scorecard will  cover the foundation material tested in the OCEB Fundamental Examination. 

• Say What You Do: Building a Framework of IT Controls, Policies, Standards, and Procedures
  Dorian, J Cougias et al - Shaser-Vartan, 2007 [ ISBN-10: 0972903968 ]
  Chapters 1
                    2 (pp 11-52, covering general aspects of regulatory compliance and governance, plus COBIT,  Basel 2, and Sarbanes-Oxley)