The person responsible for creating the organizational environment culture by providing clear direction and circumstances that allow people to be successful. The program manager is judged on the elements time, cost, and scope, cumulatively for all the projects and operations within the program. Program management decisions are both tactical and strategic in nature. The strategy aspects of these decisions must consider multidimensional impacts beyond the near-term delivery dates of the project. In addition to delivery and execution, the program manager has to also be concerned with the overall health and effectiveness of the program over the long term. The program manager may have to accept calculated risk when he or she is unable to obtain clarity from the organization and then define clarity in his or her own terms. Accepting chaos, allowing chaos to exist, or passing down chaos all signal a lack of integrity and this does not create a culture conducive to successful projects. SYNONYM. Program leader. RELATED TERM. Manager; Research manager
