Survey on Program Manager Effectiveness

Gao ID: GAO-06-112SP November 30, 2005

This document presents the results of GAO's survey of DOD program managers. To obtain information on how program managers in DOD are supported as they carry out their duties and how they are held accountable for program outcomes, we developed a web-based survey. We sent the survey to Acquisition Category I and II program managers. Originally we e-mailed 237 program managers but later determined that 52 should not be included because they managed programs other than those classified as Acquisition Category I and II. Of the 185 remaining program managers, we received completed surveys from 69 percent. The survey was activated on April 19, 2005 and was available until July 19, 2005. We show the aggregate survey results. We do not include responses for all survey questions. For example, we do not report responses for questions about demographics, some open-ended questions, or questions with high item nonresponse rates. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology and of our survey results are contained in our report entitled "Best Practices: Better Support of Weapon System Program Managers Needed to Improve Outcomes" GAO-06-110. We conducted our survey work from April 19 to July 19, 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.



GAO Report


Read the Full Report
  • Background Information
  • Instructions for Viewing This Survey
  • Table of Contents

This document presents the results of GAO’s survey of DOD program managers. To obtain information on how program managers in DOD are supported as they carry out their duties and how they are held accountable for program outcomes, we developed a web-based survey. We sent the survey to Acquisition Category I and II program managers. Originally we e-mailed 237 program managers but later determined that 52 should not be included because they managed programs other than those classified as Acquisition Category I and II. Of the 185 remaining program managers, we received completed surveys from 69 percent. The survey was activated on April 19, 2005 and was available until July 19, 2005. We show the aggregate survey results. We do not include responses for all survey questions. For example, we do not report responses for questions about demographics, some open-ended questions, or questions with high item nonresponse rates. A more detailed discussion of our scope and methodology and of our survey results are contained in our report entitled "Best Practices: Better Support of Weapon System Program Managers Needed to Improve Outcomes" GAO-06-110. We conducted our survey work from April 19 to July 19, 2005 in accordance with generally accepted government auditing standards.


Table of Contents

Instructions for Viewing this Survey

How to View The Surveys

  • Click on the Table of Contents link located in the lower right of this screen. To read to the bottom of the screen, you may need to use your scroll bar on the right side of this screen.
  • The first screen in the survey is an introduction and general information that was sent to and viewed by recipients of the survey. There are no survey results to view on this screen. This screen is for information only and you may by-pass it by clicking on Next located at the bottom of the screen in the lower right.
  • The survey may have links to allow respondents to bypass inapplicable questions (skip patterns). While these were active links during the data collection period, they have now been disabled.

How to View the Responses for Each Question

  • To view the responses to each question, click on the question number (Links to survey questions will look like this: 1., etc.).
  • After viewing the responses to each question, click on the "x" in the upper right corner of your screen to close that window and return to the questionnaire.

How to Return to a Page That You Previously Visited

  • To return to the last screen you viewed, click the Previous button on the lower right corner of the screen.
  • Click the Next button to advance to the next screen.

How to Make the Font Larger on Your Screen

  • You can make the font larger by changing your browser setting. For example, on Internet Explorer you can change the font size by going to View and selecting Text Size.
Table of Contents

    The Justia Government Accountability Office site republishes public reports retrieved from the U.S. GAO These reports should not be considered official, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Justia.