Program Management Body of Knowledge (PRMBOK)

A program is composed of a group of projects coordinated to achieve enterprises objectives, generate benefits and create values.  For instances, to enhance competitive advantage, enterprises may need to execute several projects, including product marketing, process improvement, human resource training, information system update, and the likes.  If these projects are not developed based on enterprises vision and strategy, the projects may be overlapped, and even contradictory, such as inconsistence between information system and new procurement process, and discrepancy between manpower training and new regulations.   Simply put, a program is to produce new capability and culture to promote enterprises competitiveness and create value for stakeholders.  Compared to a project, program has longer duration and wider scope, therefore, higher uncertainty and ambiguity.  As a result, the success of a program relies on responsiveness to changes, whereas project stresses on efficiency of implementation.