The primary justification for a program's existence is its ability to deliver benefits and align with organizational strategy, as outlined in the business case. The scenario explicitly states the program can no longer deliver the planned return on investment (ROI), which invalidates the original business case. When performance metrics indicate that a program's objectives are no longer achievable or justifiable, the program manager has a fiduciary responsibility to the organization. After confirming this through analysis, the appropriate professional action is to recommend the program's cancellation to the governance board to prevent further expenditure of resources on a failing initiative. The governance board holds the ultimate authority to terminate the program.

A. Extending the schedule to reduce costs and resource utilization.

This is a flawed strategy, as extending a schedule typically increases overall costs due to prolonged resource allocation and overhead.

B. Expand the scope and continue the program until return-on-investment objectives can be met.

Expanding scope would increase costs and complexity, further deteriorating the program's financial viability and making the ROI problem worse.

D. Transition the existing program results to the appropriate operational area.

Transitioning to operations is premature and inappropriate because the program has not successfully delivered its intended benefits or met its objectives.

1. Project Management Institute. (2017). The Standard for Program Management (4th ed.).

Section 1.5.3

The Relationship Among Portfolios

Programs

and Projects: "If the business case for a program is no longer viable

the program should be terminated

and the resources assigned to the program should be reassigned to other efforts." (p. 13)

Section 4.4.3

Program Monitoring and Control: "The program manager is responsible for monitoring the program’s performance and progress and for recommending changes

including program termination

when appropriate." (p. 65)

Section 5.3.2

Program Governance Board: This section details the role of the governance board

which includes "Authorizing the continuation or termination of the program based on reviews at gates or key milestones." The program manager's recommendation is a key input to this decision. (p. 81)