Certified  Business  Process  Associate  

Certification
 
CBPA®  Examination  Overview  Handbook  
January,  2015  
 

 
ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Table of Contents
1. Introduction .................................................................................................................................................... 3
2. Examination Information ................................................................................................................................ 4
3. Exam Principles ............................................................................................................................................. 5
3.1.   Question Depth - D Values ............................................................................................................................ 5  
3.2.   Exam Knowledge Areas ................................................................................................................................ 5  
4.   Program Components and Qualifications .......................................................................................................... 8  
4.1.   Experience .................................................................................................................................................... 8  
4.2.   Education ...................................................................................................................................................... 9  
4.2.1.   Four Year College or University Degree.................................................................................................... 9  
4.2.2 Training Programs .......................................................................................................................................... 10  
4.2.3 Related Certifications ..................................................................................................................................... 10  
4.3.   Applying for the CBPA® Examination ......................................................................................................... 10  
4.4.   Preparing for the CBPA® ............................................................................................................................ 11  
4.5.   Professional Code of Ethics ........................................................................................................................ 11  
4.6.   Recertification .............................................................................................................................................. 11  
4.7.   Continuing Professional Education Activities .............................................................................................. 12  
4.8.   CBPA® to CBPP® Track Path .................................................................................................................... 14  

Appendix A: Selected Bibliography ......................................................................................................................... 15  

Appendix B: Sample Examination Questions .......................................................................................................... 18  

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 2

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

1. Introduction
The Association of Business Process Management Professionals (ABPMP) International now offers two levels of
certification for business process management and transformation professionals. The first level is for individuals
who may be fairly new to the business transformation profession. This is the Certified Business Process
Associate (CBPA® ®) certification. It is meant to recognize broad-based foundation level skills and
understanding. These professionals have been trained on Business Process Management (BPM) and may have
some hands-on work experience the field, but do not have the full four years of hands-on experience required for
the second level of certification – the Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP®).
In this way, the CBPA® is the foundation and through additional training and experience in live business
improvement/ transformation projects the CBPA® holder can become eligible to sit for the CBPP® certification.
The CBPA® certification is thus the first step on the road
that can lead to acquiring a CBPP® certification and
recognition as having acquired the highest level of
competency as a BPM professional practitioner.
It is also a solid confirmation of an individual’s
understanding of and commitment to implementing BPM
solutions for their clients and employers based on the
globally recognized standards contained in ABPMP
International’s BPM – Common Body of Knowledge (BPM-
CBOK®).
The Certified Business Process Associate (CBPA®)
program evaluates an individual’s knowledge and
experience based on a rigorous examination and an
assessment of work history and/or BPM related education
or training. The Certification program is designed to
promote the various competencies and expertise across
the nine common management disciplines of the business
process management profession.
The CBPA® exam was developed by an international
group of practicing BPM and business transformation
professionals. It consists of 90 questions that are
presented in a 2-hour online examination. Individuals who
meet all eligibility requirements, pay associated fees and
obtain a passing score on the exam will be awarded the
international CBPA ® credential. This document is
intended as a certification overview guide for individuals
preparing to take ABPMP International’s CBPA®
examination.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 3

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

2. Examination Information
Candidates must be individually approved by the CBPA® Certification Committee before they can sit for the
CBPA® examination. The approval process is initiated by the candidate by first completing the CBPA®
application form and submitting it along with a non-refundable processing fee of USD $40.00. This one-time
processing fee helps ABPMP International recover costs associated with the administration and verification of
CBPA® applications. All applications will be audited in a statistically selected manner and applicants may be
required to provide additional proof of their qualifications before being approved to take the examination.

Candidates who meet all qualifying criteria and sign the ABPMP Code of Conduct will be approved to take the
CBPA® examination and provided with specific instructions on how to pay for and register for the examination. At
the time of this writing, the fee for the CBPA® examination is USD $400.00. A discount of USD $80 is available
for current professional level members of ABPMP International. The examination fee is also non-refundable.

Candidates who do not pass the CBPA® exam on their first sitting will be eligible to retake the exam at a
discounted rate after a waiting period of at least 30 days. Please contact the ABPMP International office for
information on how to retake the examination should it be required.

Computer-based testing (CBT) is the standard method for administering the CBPA® examinations. Approved
candidates can take the exam at one of thousands of Kryterion certified testing centers around the world. You will
receive specific instructions on where to go and how to prove your identity at the Kryterion exam center you
select. Please note that this is a “closed book” examination and the on-site proctor will ask you to store your
personal belongings in a secure location outside of the examination room and explain other security procedures
prior to starting the exam.

The CBPA® examination may also be offered as part of a third-party BPM conference or other industry events
where candidates can take a secure web-based version of the exam in a central proctored environment using
their own laptop computer. As with the Kryterion center test offering, all candidates must first be approved by the
CBPA® certification committee before sitting for the exam. The event sponsor will provide you with specific
information on how to apply for and register for the exam. Examinations offered at such events will be formally
proctored by a trained individual who also holds the CBPP® designation, ABPMP International’s globally
recognized professional level BPM certification. These are also “closed book” exam sessions and the on-site
proctor will explain identity verification and security procedures for you prior to your exam.

Paper Based Testing (PBT) is available for private groups under limited circumstances. Candidates interested in
PBT should contact the local ABPMP International chapter or affiliate (e.g. EABPM) for further details.

Allotted Examination Time

2 hours /120 minutes/ 90 questions

rd
All questions in the exam are grouped based on the chapters of BPM-CBOK® 3 Edition as outlined in section
3.2 of this document. With computer-based testing, questions are randomly placed throughout the examination
and are intended to evaluate the candidate’s foundational level of BPM and business transformation knowledge.
The exact sequence of the 90 questions will be unique for each exam taker and helps protect the integrity of the
overall examination process. For those individuals taking paper based versions of the exam, each version is
computer generated specifically for each examination session and the sequence of questions and answers are
presented in a random fashion to help protect the integrity of the exam.

Please note that some candidates may complete the exam in less than the two hours allotted. In this case, you
will be given the opportunity to review your questions before you submit the exam for scoring. The 120-minute
examination is followed by a survey, which can take up to 15 minutes to complete. The time used to complete the
survey is not included in the examination time.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 4

 ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

3. Exam Principles
A team of internationally recognized BPM and business transformation professionals and university educators
from both the ABPMP International and the European Association of Business Process Management (EABPM)
collaborated on developing a set of test items based on the ABPMP BPM-CBOK®, industry knowledge and BPM
best practices as represented in the Selected Bibliography in Appendix A. The examination questions:

• Are developed and independently validated by global work groups of CBPP® credential holders;
• Are monitored through psychometric analysis;
• Satisfy the test specifications of the Certified Business Process Associate (CBPA®) Examination
Specification;
• Test candidates primarily on the D Values of Recognition (D1), Differentiation (D2) and Description (D3)
for a foundational level of testing. An appropriate mix of D values has been formulated for each section of
the exam by the CBPA® certification committee.

Exam items are in the form of a question (stem) and four possible answers. There is one best answer and three
distracters. One of the distracters will be clearly wrong, but the others are potentially right answers that someone
who is not well prepared and knowledgeable about the topic would be as likely to choose as the actual best
answer.

As there is no additional penalty for wrong answers, candidates are encouraged to answer all questions in the
time allotted. If you finish the exam early, please use the extra time to review answers prior to submitting your
examination for electronic scoring.

3.1. Question Depth - D Values

The characters “D#” after an element name indicate the target “depth” of questions posed on the subject indicated
by the element name and all subordinate elements. The depths of knowledge are defined as follows:
D1 Recognition Knowing what a concept is called
D2 Differentiation Knowing the external differences between a concept and a neighboring concept
D3 Description Knowing the external characteristics of a concept
D4 Usage Knowing how to use instances of the concept and why
D5 Structure Knowing the internal structure of the concept — its components and the
relationships among these components
D6 Construction Knowing how to put together instances of the concept tailored to specific
purposes
The CBPA® examination is psychometrically calibrated to have an appropriate mix of D1 through D4
questions to evaluate a candidate’s foundational level of BPM knowledge across each chapter of the BPM-
CBOK®.

3.2. Exam Knowledge Areas

At the time of this writing, the CBPA® examination consists of 90 questions selected at random from a bank of
approved examination questions in a psychometrically sound manner. A candidate must answer at least 70% of
the questions (63) correctly in order to pass the examination. The following shows the approximate number of
questions in each domain that are included in the examination:

  Percentage  
BPM-CBOK® Chapter Questions   (%)  
1 - Guide to the CBOK® 5   6%  

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 5

 ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

  Percentage  
BPM-CBOK® Chapter Questions   (%)  
1.0 Introduction    
1.1 Purpose of the Guide to the BPM CBOK®    
1.3 CBOK® Organization: Summary of Chapters    
1.5 Benefits of BPM    
1.6 BPM Overview    
2 - Business Process Management 11   12%  
2.0 Introduction    
2.1 What is Business Process Management    
2.2 BPM Core Concepts    
3 - Process Modeling 10   11%  
3.0 Introduction    
3.1 Business Process Modeling Techniques    
3.2 Purpose of Process Modeling    
3.3 Commonly Used Process Modeling Notations    
3.4 Specialized Approaches in Process Modeling    
3.5 Process Modeling Levels    
3.6 Bottom-Up and Top-Down Modeling Approaches    
3.7 Capturing Process Information and Modeling Participants    
3.8 Frameworks and Reference Models    
3.9 Modeling Techniques and Tools    
3.10 Process Validation and Simulation    
4.0 Process Analysis 9   10%  
4.0 Introduction    
4.1 What is Process Analysis?    
4.2 Why do Process Analysis?    
4.3 When to Perform Process Analysis    
4.4 Process Analysis Roles    
4.5 Preparing to Analyze Process    
4.6 Gathering Information    
4.7 Document the Analysis    
4.8 Considerations    
4.9 Conclusion    
5.0 Process Design 8   9%  
5.0 Introduction    
5.1 What is Process Design?    
5.2 Process Design Foundation    
5.3 Process Discovery – The As-Is or Current State    
5.4 Strategic Business Change    
5.5 Process Analysis – Gaining an understanding of the business    
5.6 Process and Workflow Design – Creating the To-Be Design    
5.7 Change Management    

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 6

 ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

  Percentage  
BPM-CBOK® Chapter Questions   (%)  
5.8 IT Infrastructure Analysis and Design    
5.9 Simulation Modeling    
5.10 Conclusions    
6 - Process Performance Management 12   13%  
6.0 Introduction    
6.1 What is Process Performance Management?    
6.2 What is Process Performance?    
6.3 What can Process Performance Measurement tell you?    
6.4 Measurement Management    
6.5 Finding out How to Measure Performance    
6.6 Building a Performance Measurement Capability    
6.7 Importance and Benefits of Performance Measurement    
6.8 Key Process Performance Definitions    
6.9 Monitoring and Controlling Operations    
6.10 Alignment of Business Process and Enterprise Performance    
6.11 What to Measure    
6.12 The Voice of the Process    
6.13 Simulation of Future State    
6.14 Decision Support for Process Owners and Managers    
6.15 Process Performance Management Maturity Framework    
6.16 Considerations for Success    
7.0 Process Transformation 11   12%  
7.0 Introduction    
7.1 Transformation: Beyond Improvement    
7.2 Executive Commitment    
7.3 Change Management: Getting the Staff Behind Transformation    
7.4 Getting Ready for Process Transformation    
7.5 Transforming the Business: Reaching Optimization    
7.6 Sustaining Optimization    
8.0 Process Organization 7   8%  
8.0 Organization    
8.1 The Process Driven Organization    
8.2 From Hierarchical Structures to the Process Driven Organization    
8.3 Process Management Roles    
8.4 Governing Bodies    
8.5 A Summary Discussion    
9.0 Enterprise Process Management 10   11%  
9.0 Introduction    
9.1 Transitioning to Enterprise Process Management    
9.2 Current State: Assessing Process Maturity    
9.3 Process Enablement    

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 7

 ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

  Percentage  
BPM-CBOK® Chapter Questions   (%)  
9.4 Process Governance    
9.5 Business Process Management Roadmap    
9.6 Process Management Center of Excellence    
9.7 BPM Integration in Support of Process Management    
10 – BPM Technology 8   9%  
10.0 Introduction    
10.1 Evolution of BPM Technologies    
10.2 BPM Technology: Enabling Business Change    
10.3 Capabilities of BPM Technologies    
10.4 Making BPM Technologies Work for You    
10.5 BPMS Governance    
10.6 Coming Soon to Help Delivery Flexibility    
10.7 Vision of the Future    
10.8 Summary: Advantages and Risks of Process Automation    

Please note that the CBPA® examination has been designed for continuous improvement as the BPM profession
and market needs evolve. As such, each exam section may contain one or more “evaluation questions” that are
being considered for inclusion in future versions of the CBPA® exam but are not included in the actual scoring of
the exam you will take. As an exam taker, you will not know exactly which questions are being scored and which
are there for evaluation purposes, so it is important that you try your best to answer each one. ABPMP
International retains the services of professional psychometricians to statistically evaluate and calibrate each
version of the exam based on actual candidate results.

4. Program Components and Qualifications

4.1. Experience
A candidate must have either 1250 hours of documented professional experience performing BPM related work in
two or more of the BPM Management Disciplines covered in the BPM-CBOK® OR hold a four year university
degree in a qualifying area (e.g., business, engineering and/or related sciences) to be eligible to apply.

Ideally a candidate will meet both criteria before sitting for the exam. However, as individual experience levels and
educational programs vary significantly around the world, a candidate who meets either of these criteria is
considered to be qualified to sit for the Certified Business Process Associate (CBPA®) examination.

Though not required, hands-on project experience with business process modeling, performance management
and rules management is an excellent way for a candidate to prepare for the certification exam. This hands-on
experience provides an understanding of how the concepts and techniques addressed in the recommended
reading, is being applied in real world situations. The CBPA® certification is intended for a foundational level of
experience and requires education at the university level or direct work experience in two or more of the
management disciplines described in the BPM-CBOK®. Ideally, the successful candidate will have both at the
time they choose to sit for the examination.

Many credential holders obtained their hands-on experience by working on projects involving business software
implementation, six-sigma, quality control, and business process analysis or process improvement. Others gained

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 8

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

their experience by working in day-to-day operations involving business process monitoring, control or
improvement (e.g., as part of a Six Sigma team, Quality Control or IT department).

If you are applying for the CBPA® exam based on having the required experience hours (no university degree),
you will be asked to document your work hours and provide contact information for individuals who can
independently verify your BPM related work experience. Please note that you may receive credit for up to 625
hours of work experience for qualifying BPM related training and/or education to help you reach the 1250 hour
minimum requirement. A separate section of the application form is provided to help you document training credits
if required.

4.2. Education

4.2.1. Four Year College or University Degree

Candidates with a four (4) year degree in one of the following management, engineering, financial, technical or
organizational science related fields of study are eligible to apply for the CBPA® credential without having to
document their work experience:

• Business Process Management • Mathematics/Statistics

• Communication/Marketing • Operations Management
• Computer Science • Organization Management
• Education • Project Management
• Engineering • Science
• Finance/Accounting • Technology
• General Management • Other BPM related (please indicate)

As college and university programs differ by country and institution, there may be programs that have significant
relevance to the BPM profession that are not listed above that still qualify. Please indicate this on your application
form as “Other” and provide a brief explanation of your degree for consideration by the ABPMP International
Certification Committee.

As discussed in section 4.1 above, candidates who do not have a full four year university degree can still qualify
to apply for the CBPA® examination if they can document at least 1250 hours of hands-on BPM work experience
in two or more of the BPM Management Disciplines covered in the BPM-CBOK®. This will help individuals
currently working in the BPM profession who have university degrees in non-qualifying areas and have significant
hands-on experience in BPM. For those candidates who may not hold a full four year university of college degree
but have significant BPM related education hours, they may receive credit for up to 625 hours of
education/training towards their 1250 hours of documented work experience. Instructions for qualifying under this
option are included in the CBPA® application form available on the ABPMP International website.

This experience can be obtained in a variety of ways including working on business software implementation
projects, process improvement projects, six-sigma projects, organization change management projects, company
mergers, re-organizations, student internships, day-to-day operations and a variety of other areas covered by the
BPM Management Disciplines. BPM is a “Big Tent” profession and the CBPA® examination recognizes this
diversity and different ways individuals can obtain sufficient knowledge on BPM and business transformation as
described in the BPM-CBOK®.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 9

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

4.2.2 Training Programs

Up to 625 hours of BPM related training programs can be counted towards the 1250 hour hands-on work
experience requirement if the candidate does not possess a qualifying four year university degree or enough
hands-on work experience. For this option, one hour of classroom instruction equals one contact hour.

For example, if you have completed a university or college course on a business process management related
topic that met 2 times per week for 3 hours per session over a 12-week period, the course would count as 72
contact hours. If only a portion of the course was related to business process management, only those hours
spent on BPM-related topics can be counted as contact hours. Please note that the course work must be
completed before you actually sit for the examination. The course hours may include content from any of the
management disciplines covered in the BPM-CBOK®. You can obtain credit for contact training hours by
successfully completing courses, workshops, web-based training, and/or other training sessions provided by one
or more of the following providers:

1. ABPMP International Registered Training Providers (RTP)

2. University/College academic and continuing education programs
3. Employer/company sponsored training programs
4. Training companies and/or consultants who specialize in BPM
5. Distance learning companies

Please be sure to summarize your total hands-on BPM work experience and training hours in the section
provided. Together, they must total at least 1250 hours in order to qualify for the CBPA® examination.

4.2.3 Related Certifications

Other certifications may not be applied as experiential credit for the CBPA® examination.

4.3. Applying for the CBPA® Examination

Candidates must satisfy all application criteria and pass the CBPA® ® examination to be awarded the
international Certified Business Process Associate certification credential. This exam is intended to test
candidates at a foundational level.

At the time of this writing, the CBPA® examination contains a total of 90 questions. A candidate must answer at
least 70% of these questions correctly in order to pass the examination.

The CBPA® examination is usually administered as a computer-based exam at one of thousands of Kryterion
Testing Centers around the world. Testing facilities are available in most countries and metropolitan areas. The
latest information is posted on the ABPMP International website. The examination may also be offered as part of
a BPM related industry conference, a formal university program or as part of another BPM related training
program. In each of these cases, the party offering the training will provide you with more specific instructions to
apply for and take the exam (e.g., as a paper based exam or a web-based exam in your school or office).

There are two electronic versions of the application form available online:

• Candidates With Qualifying University Degree – use this application form if you have a qualifying university
degree as described in section 4.2.1 above. It is much shorter than the “without” version.

• Candidates Without Qualifying University Degree – use this application form if you do not have a
qualifying university degree and have over 1250 hours of hands-on BPM work experience. It has special
tables to help document your BPM and work experience and training hours as described in sections 4.1 and
4.2.2 above.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 10

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Use the form appropriate to your individual circumstances to apply for the examination online at our website in the
Certification section. There is also a paper based (Adobe) version of the application available if needed.

4.4. Preparing for the CBPA®

rd
The best way for most people to prepare for the CBPA® examination is to thoroughly read the 3 Edition of the
BPM-CBOK® paying close attention to the terminology and concepts discussed. Most of the questions contained
in this professional examination have been derived from this text.

A complimentary copy of the BPM-CBOK® is available through a paid membership in ABPMP International or one
of our affiliated BPM organizations. It is also available for purchase on our website or on Amazon.com in English,
Portuguese, German, French and Russian languages.

Appendix B of this hand-book contains 20 sample questions intended to be representative of the types of
questions and answers you will be presented with in the actual CBPA® examination and help guide your
individual study efforts.

One of the most important aspects of BPM-CBOK® is establishing a common business-friendly language use for
across the BPM profession. You will probably have encountered many of these subjects as part of your formal
university education (e.g., business process modeling, Six Sigma, organization behavior management) or as part
of your hands-on work experience on BPM related projects or operations. As you read through each chapter of
the BPM-CBOK®, keep careful notes on the topics you are familiar with and (more importantly) on those you may
not be as comfortable with. For those items that you decide you need to learn more about, create a personalized
list of “learning topics” for each chapter and use the bibliography included in the appendix of this document.
These will acquaint the CBPA® ® applicant with the points of view on business transformation concepts,
approaches, techniques and methods adopted by ABPMP International. This reading will serve as the foundation
for independent study and discussion with other practitioners.

For candidates who are members of ABPMP International, one benefit of your membership is access to
complimentary recorded webinars that explain the key concepts of each chapter to help you prepare for the
examination.

A growing number of specialized training organizations offer courses and review materials to help you prepare for
the CBPA® examination through the ABPMP International Registered Training Provider (RTP) Program or other
BPM oriented learning institutions. These offerings may include study guides, Web-based training, live review
courses and will vary by vendor. Please expect to pay extra for such materials and courses and be aware that this
would be in addition to the cost of applying for and registering for the CBPA® exam with ABPMP International.

4.5. Professional Code of Ethics

Candidates must sign and adhere to the ABPMP International Code of Ethics as part of the formal CBPA®
application process. Electronic and manual signatures can be accommodated as part of this process, depending
on how you choose to apply.

4.6. Recertification
All CBPA® certification holders are required to complete 30 credits for professional development through
continuing professional education (CPE) or the equivalent (see below) every three years to maintain the currency
and validity of their certification.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 11

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Failure to complete the required continuing professional education requirement in any recertification period will
result in the suspension of the certification until a new examination has been successfully completed. If a new
examination is not completed within one year, the certification will be revoked.

4.7. Continuing Professional Education Activities

ABPMP International Participation

• ABPMP International Committees (1 CPE credit for each hour in committee meetings)
• ABPMP International Leadership (10 CPE credits/year for serving as a committee chair, chapter
officer or director of ABPMP International)
• Contributions to the BPM CBOK® development (1 CPE credit for each hour of participation)
• Submitting questions for the CBPP® or CBPA® exam bank (1 CPE credit for every 1 question
accepted)
Education/Training
• ABPMP International Educational Meetings (1 CPE credit for each hour of attendance at an ABPMP
International meeting or event)
• Taking university/college courses (20 CPE credits per class)
• Taking RTP training classes (1 CPE credit per classroom hour)
• In-house training (1 CPE credit per classroom hour, must submit documentation for approval)
• Self-Study (1 CPE credit per study hour, must submit documentation for approval)
Teaching/Training
• Teaching University/College courses (20 CPE credits per unique class taught)
• Presenting training classes (1 CPE credit per contact hour per unique course, RTP or in-house
training)
• Developing an RTP training or university class (10 CPE credits per course title)
• Developing an in-house training class (1 CPE credit per training hour)
Writing
• BPM Books (30 CPE credits per title)
• BPM related Articles/Blogs (5 CPE credits per publication)
• BPM related Case studies/Analyses/White Papers (5 CPE credits per publication)
Other Professional Activities
• BPM related public presentations (conference session, case studies, etc.) (5 CPE credit per title)
• Earning another professional certification (30 CPE for earning a related professional designation such
as PMP, CBAP, CBA, CSA, CDMP, CBIP, CCP – does not include training program certificates)
• Response to BPM questions posted on ABPMP International LinkedIn Group Discussion page (1
CPE credit for each 2 questions answered)
• Practicing in the BPM space (5 CPE credits per year — Maximum of 15 CPEs for each 3 year
renewal period)

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 12

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 13

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

4.8. CBPA® to CBPP® Track Path

A CBPA® with the required CPEs may recertify as a CBPA® or may apply for the CBPP® examination when they
have accrued an additional two and a half years (3125 hours) of BPM experience. The CBPA® certification is
applied as a professional certification credit for six months of BPM experience towards the total of four years
required for the Certified Business Process Professional (CBPP®) certification. This process is depicted in the
graphic below:

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 14

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Appendix A: Selected Bibliography

Additional reading from the Selected Bibliography can help a candidate prepare for the Examination. Please note
that it is not necessary to read/study all of the texts referenced in this guide in order to take the CBPA®
rd
examination. Please use the BPM-CBOK® 3 Edition as your primary study resource and use this suggested
reading list to gain more in-depth knowledge on areas you are less familiar with based on your previous
education/work experience. Of course, the costs of any books, courses or other examination preparatory
materials are in addition to the fees charged to apply for and register for the CBPA® exam and are not provided
by ABPMP International.

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT BOOKS

Burlton, Roger. “Business Process Management: Profiting From Process”. Sams, 2001.

Curtice, Robert M. "Fundamentals of Process Management: Best Practices in Optimizing Cross-Functional

Business Processes", Performance Improvement Associates, October 2003.

Davenport, Thomas. “Mission Critical: Realizing the Promise of Enterprise Systems”. Harvard Business School
Press. 2000. pp. 299-311.

Davenport, Thomas and Short, James. "The New Industrial Engineering: Information Technology and Business
Process Redesign," Sloan Management Review, Summer 1990.

Fingar, Peter and Bellini, Joseph. “The Real-Time Enterprise”, Meghan-Kiffer Press, 2004.

Garimella, Kiran K.; Williams, Bruce D.; and Lees, Michael J. “BPM for Dummies”. Wiley Publishing Inc. 2008
(electronic version available at no charge from several online outlets).

Harmon, Paul, “Business Process Change: A Manager's Guide to Improving, Redesigning, and Automating
st nd
Processes”, Morgan Kaufmann Publishing, (1 or 2 Edition 2002/2007).

Jeston, John and Nelis, Johan. “Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful
nd rd
Implementations”, Butterworth-Heinemann (2 or 3 Edition 2008/2014).

O’Connell, John; Pyke, Jon and Whitehead, Roger. “Mastering Your Organization's Processes: A Plain Guide to
BPM”. Cambridge University Press, 2006.

Ould, Martyn. “Business Process Management: A Rigorous Approach”, The British Computer Society, 2004.

Rummler, Geary and Brache, Alan. "Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the
nd
Organization Chart", Jossey-Bass (2 Edition), 1995

Smith, Howard and Fingar, Peter. “Business Process Management (BPM): The Third Wave”, Meghan-Kiffer
Press; 1st edition, 2003.

Smith, Howard and Fingar, Peter. "A Chasm Must Be Crossed", Intelligent Enterprise, June 17, 2003. (URL:
http://www.intelligententerprise.com/030617/610feat2_1.shtml)

Spanyi, Andrew, “Business Process Management (BPM) is a Team Sport: Play it to Win!”, Meghan Kiffer Press,
2003.

Spanyi, Andrew. “More for Less: The Power of Process Management", Meghan Kiffer Press, 2008.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 15

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

BUSINESS PROCESS MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS BOOKS

Linthicum, David. Next Generation Application Integration: From Simple Information to Web Services, Addison-
Wesley Information Technology Series, 2004.

Aalst, Will Van Der (Editor); Desel, Jorg (Editor); Oberweis, Andreas (Editor), Business Process Management:
Tools, Techniques, and Empirical Studies, Springer Verlag, May 2000.

Becker, S.; Rosemann, M.; Schutte, R. "Business-to-Business Process Integration: Functions and Methods",
Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Information Systems (DCIS '97), vol II. Ed. R. Galliers et al. Cork
1997, pp. 816-827.

Coleman, K., Johnson, C., Ettwein, J., Pigman, D., and Pulak, D. Reengineering MIS: Aligning Information
Technology with Business Operations, Idea Group Publishing, 1996.

Fui-Hoon Nah, Fiona; Lee-Shang Lau, Janet; Jinghua Kuang. "Critical Factors for Successful Implementation of
Enterprise Systems", Business Process Management Journal, Vol 7, Issue 3, 2001, pp. 285-296.

Grover, Varun, and Kettinger, William. “Business Process Change: Reengineering Concepts, Methods and
Technologies”. Idea Group Publishing, 1995.

Hollingsworth, Dave. "From Workflow to e-Process Automation", in Workflow Handbook 2001, Editor Layna
Fischer.

Kahn, Rashid. “Business Process Management: A Practical Guide”, Meghan-Kiffer Press, 2004.

Kirchmer, Mathias. ”Business Process Oriented Implementation of Standard Software”, 2nd Edition, Springer,
1999.

Morgan, Tony. “Business Rules and Information Systems: Aligning IT with Business Goals”, Addison Wesley
Publishing Company, March, 2002.

Scheer, A.W.; Abolhassan, Ferri; Jost, Wolfram; Kirchmer, Mathias (Editors). “Business Process Automation”,
Springer-Verlag, 2004.

Scheer, A.W.; Abolhassan, Ferri; Jost, Wolfram; Mathias Kirchmer (Editors). “Business Process Change
Management”, Springer-Verlag, 2003.

PROCESS MODELING BOOKS

Sharp, Alec and McDermott, Patrick. Workflow Modeling: Tools for Process Improvement and Application
Development, Artech House, Inc., 2001.

Kawalek, p. and P. Kueng. "Process Models" http://www.cs.man.ac.uk/ipg/Docs/pkpk97.html

Laguna, Manuel and Marklund, Johan. “Business Process Modeling, Simulation, and Design”, Pearson Prentice
Hall Publishing, 2005.
nd
Silver, Bruce. “BPMN Method & Style, with BPMN Implementers Guide”. 2 Edition. Codey-Cassidy Press, 2011.

White, Stephen A. "Introduction to BPMN", IBM White Paper, 2004.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 16

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

PROCESS ANALYSIS BOOKS

Jeston, John and Nelis, Johan. “Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful
nd
Implementations”, Butterworth-Heinemann (2 Edition), 2008.

Madison, Dan. “Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management”. Paton Press, 2005.

PROCESS DESIGN BOOKS

Laguna, Manuel and Marklund, Johan. “Business Process Modeling, Simulation, and Design”, Pearson Prentice
Hall Publishing, 2005.

Jeston, John and Nelis, Johan. “Business Process Management: Practical Guidelines to Successful
nd
Implementations”, Butterworth-Heinemann (2 Edition), 2008.

Madison, Dan. “Process Mapping, Process Improvement and Process Management”. Paton Press, 2005.

PROCESS PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT BOOKS

Norton, Robert and Kaplan, David. “The Balanced Scorecard: Translating Strategy into Action”, 1996.

Harbour, Jerry. "The Basics of Performance Measurement", 1997.

"Business Performance Measurement", edited by Andy Neely, 2011.

Brache, Alan. "How Organizations Work: Taking a Holistic Approach to Enterprise Health", 2002.

Frost, Bob. "Measuring Performance: Using the new metrics to deploy strategy and improve performance", 2000.

Rummler, Geary. "Serious Performance Consulting According to Rummler", 2007.

Rummler, Geary and Brache, Alan. "Improving Performance: How to Manage the White Space in the
nd
Organization Chart", Jossey-Bass (2 Edition), 1995.

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 17

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Appendix B: Sample Examination Questions

Certified Business Process Associate (CBPA®)

Sample Examination Questions

Number of
Questions 90

Intent The following are sample questions intended to give the

reader an idea of the types of questions being asked on
the CBPA® examination. They are intended as
examples only and are not included in the actual
CBPA® examination. Careful study and knowledge of
the BPM-CBOK® is required to pass the exam.

Please read the question and all answers, then chose

the best possible answer from the options presented.
Please answer all questions; there no penalty for wrong
answers. Unanswered questions will be scored with zero
points.

Additional This is a closed book examination. You are not allowed

Materials to use any additional material during the exam.

Length of Exam 90 Minutes

Date Name Last name score

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 18

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

Sample CBPA® Exam Questions

001 What do business processes define?

A The company’s strategy

B The efficiency of process execution
C The end-to-end series of events for interacting with customers
D Only the in-house services

002 BPM (Business Process Management) is…

A A strategic technique
B An approach for performance improvement
C A management discipline
D A tool for automating business processes

003 One of the most important BPM success factors is…

A Selection of the right methods and tools

B Clear responsibility for organizational hand-offs in the business processes
C A group of external sponsors
D A solid management organization

004 In process modeling it is beneficial if work-shop participants…

A have comprehensive knowhow about financing issues

B are informed about all IT-Systems the enterprise uses
C represent the entire business process as cross-functional group
D already developed a finished process module for their sector

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 19

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

005 What is the job of the process owner?

A Responsible for process design, process performance and development of the solution
B Execution of project management for re-engineering
C Development of the database design for the repository
D Selection and procurement of BPM-tools

006 When should effective Change Management steps start?

A In the phase of the introduction of the process

B After the BPM project
C With the BPM project initiation
D When problems occur during the implementation

007 Why is focused People & Change Management necessary in BPM?

A To achieve quick wins faster

B To anticipate the impact on stakeholders
C To assure customers of success
D To motivate the process team

008 A good process culture is characterized by …

A A matrix organization
B Clearly defined business units
C The overall use of BPMS-suites
D Stakeholder awareness of full end-to-end processes

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 20

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

009 Business Process Management (BPM) is focused on …

A The adoption of best practice from other enterprises

B The continuous review and adoption of BPM technologies
C the alignment of business processes and organization structures according to the
organizations strategy
D The analysis of single business processes

010 What is the primary purpose of the usage of process models?

A Standardization of business processes

B Preparation of training material for the launch of the processes
C Analysis, documentation and design of business processes
D A system for measurement of process cycle times

011 What is the goal of a process simulation?

A Anticipate process behavior

B Variation of parameters
C Calculation of process variables
D Production of a graphical process model

012 An important step in process design is …

A The definition of the company’s strategy

B The development of a new process related compensation system
C The development and definition of useful key performance indicators (KPI‘s)
D The selection and deployment of external consultants

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 21

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

013 What is the biggest benefit of using BPM-technologies?

A The use of standards to support the whole BPM-lifecycle.

B The usage of the technology provides a comprehensive document management
C The graphical presentation for the automation of workflows
D The possibility of programming in BPEL (Business Process Execution Language)

014 What is one of the primary purposes of process modeling?

A Verbal description of the process features

B Visual illustration of process features to ensure better communication
C Presentation of the process-lifecycle
D Creation of specifications for process simulation

015 Which role do business rules play in the execution of a processes?

A Usually they are not important in the execution of processes

B They determine how activities shall be performed
C They manage the interaction with the customer in automated processes
D They always control only parallel processes

016 Which method for process implementation and introduction does NOT belong
to BPM?

A Six Sigma
B Lean Management
C Overhead Value Analysis
D TQM

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 22

ABPMP International CBPA® Exam Overview Handbook

017 How does Activity Based Costing improve business processes?

A With reduction of the overhead and allocated costs (indirect costs)

B With minimization of cycle times
C With static methods
D With the analysis of cost drivers and the minimization of activities that do not create
value

018 Which is an essential success factor for process performance measurement

and control?

A Involvement of stakeholders in the process improvement process

B Use of a comprehensive BPM-Suite and BPMN
C Integration of a simulation model in the process
D Implementation of an incentive plan for the employees

019 A frequent reason for the failure of BPM-Projects is…

A There is not enough executive involvement

B Too much training of the process owner
C Comprehensive BPM-tools have not been used
D The change management processes have not been managed properly

020 On what are KPI's (Key Performance Indicators) based?

A Process costs
B Cycle costs
C Number of involved employees
D Strategy and business goals

© ABPMP International, 2015 Page 23