BCM Institute | Blog

BCM Body of Knowledge (BoK) Vs Competency Level

Written by Moh Heng Goh | Sep 9, 2021 6:29:03 AM

Body of Knowledge Vs Competency Level

The content of training and certification within BCM Institute is based on the seven phases of the planning methodology and the knowledge is transcribed and aligned directly as the seven BoK or components of the Body of Knowledge.

As our participants are participating in our courses at a different level, it is critical that we identify the level of competency that these budding or senior professionals should be pursuing.

This blog explains the inter-relationship between the BoK and the desired competency level.

Body of Knowledge (BoK)

The BCM Body of Knowledge or BCMBoK is an all-inclusive term that describes the sum of knowledge within the profession of Business Continuity Management (BCM). Since it is usually not possible to put the full body of knowledge of even a discipline, such as BCM audit (A), business continuity (BC), crisis communication (CC), crisis management (CM) or disaster recovery (DR), into a single document, there is a need for a Guide to the BCM Body of Knowledge (BoK).

This BoK guide deposited in BCMPedia seeks to identify and describe that subset of the body of knowledge that is generally accepted, even though the professionals must be knowledgeable not only in BCM Audit, BCM, CC, CM or DR, but also, of course, in other related disciplines.

The BCM Body of Knowledge or BoK is categorised into BoK 1 to 7 respectively.

Alignment to Planning Methodology

The BoK 1 to 7 is aligned to the seven phases of the BCM planning methodology. To understand more about each phase, read more about the details of the BCM Planning Methodology.

Competency Level (CL)

Each BoK is further divided into three levels of competency or CL. They are the:

  1. Foundation (leading to "Planner" Level certification);
  2. Intermediate (leading to "Specialist" Level certification); and
  3. Advanced (leading to "Expert" Level certification).

The only exception is the BCM Audit course which starts from:

  1. Intermediate leading to "Auditor" Level certification; and
  2. Advanced leading to "Lead Auditor" Level certification.

http://www.bcmpedia.org/wiki/BCM_Body_of_Knowledge_(BCMBoK)#Competency_Level

It is useful to determine which level of competency that you are attending.  You can find out more by asking "What is My BCM (CM, CC, DR & Audit) Competency Level?"

 

Upon understanding how Competency Level (CL) is developed on how knowledge is acquired by the potential candidates. 

 

Level Expertise Competency
1 Know Foundation
2 Do Intermediate
3 Manage Advanced

The Competency Level (CL) is a set of building blocks for BCM Institute's training and certification requirement. Each subject domain is broken into three distinct levels:

  1. Foundation (CL 1)
  2. Intermediate (CL 2)
  3. Advanced (CL 3)

Their breakdown for each of the knowledge domain are as follows:


    Know Do  Manage
Course Type Code Competency Level
Audit A CL 1B CL 2A CL 3A
Business Continuity B CL 1B CL 2B CL 3B
Crisis Management CM CL 1C CL 2C CL 3C
Crisis Communication CC CL 1CC CL 2CC CL 3CC
Disaster Recovery D CL 1D CL 2D CL 3D

The arrangement of the tiers represents the increasing level of specificity and specialization of the BCM audit (A), business continuity (B), crisis management (CM), crisis communication(CC), and disaster recovery (DR) skills and knowledge content.

1. Foundation (CL 1)

You can view the summary of the terms used in the BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name Blended Learning You should be reading:
BCM-200  BL-B-2 CL 1B
CM-200 BL-CM-2 CL 1C
CC-200 BL-CC-2 CL 1CC
DRP-200 BL-DR-2 CL 1D

 

2. Intermediate (CL 2)

You can view the summary of the terms used in the BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name Blended Learning You should be reading:
BCM-300  BL-B-3 CL 1B CL 2B
CM-300 BL-CM-3 CL 1C CL 2C
CC-300 BL-CC-3 CL 1CC CL 2CC
DRP-300 BL-DR-3 CL 1D CL 2D

3. Advanced (CL 3)

You can view the summary of the terms used in the BCM Body of Knowledge during the preparation of the examination here:

Course name Blended Learning You should be reading:
BCM-400 / BCM-5000  BL-B-4/5 CL 1B CL 2B CL 3B
CM-400 / CM-5000 BL-CM-4/5 CL 1C CL 2C CL 3C
CC-400 / CC-5000 BL-CC-4/5 CL 1CC CL 2CC CL 3CC
DRP-400 / DRP-5000 BL-DR-4/5 CL 1D CL 2D CL 3D

 

You are strongly advised to read competency levels based on the course you are attending and attempt the practice exams questions before sitting for the actual exams.