MSP-Practitioner MSP Practitioner, 5th edition Exam Questions and Answers

The Programme Brief is developed from the Programme Mandate and serves as a foundational input to the Business Case. It contains the programme objectives and expected outcomes, which the Business Case further elaborates. The MSP Practitioner states:“Programme brief contains objectives and outcomes of programme which is further enhanced in Business case.”This positions the Programme Brief as a bridge between initial mandate and detailed justification for the programme.

The false statement is that“Stakeholder profiles are created under stakeholder maps.”In fact, MSP treats the Stakeholder Map as a component or output of Stakeholder Profiling.

The MSP Practitioner explains:“Stakeholder map is created as part of stakeholder profile,”meaning the profile contains detailed information about individual stakeholders, their attributes, influence, and interests, while the map visually represents stakeholder relationships and influence patterns.

This distinction is important for effective stakeholder analysis and engagement planning, ensuring both granular detail and strategic overview are captured.

The process of how issues will be identified, captured, and assessed isnotrecorded in the Issue Register itself but is instead documented in the Issue Management Strategy.

The MSP Practitioner clarifies:“How to deal with issue is identified in issue management strategy,”meaning the register contains actual issues with details such as date raised, description, and categorization but not the procedural approach.

This distinction ensures that the register remains a real-time log of current issues while the management strategy defines policies and processes for consistent issue handling across the programme.

Maintaining this separation improves clarity and operational efficiency in issue management.

The critical organizational elements in MSP include Corporate strategy, Delivery mechanisms for change, and the Business as usual environment. Delivery mechanisms for change refer to the structures and processes organizations use to implement and manage changes introduced by programmes. These elements are foundational to effective governance and ensure alignment with strategic objectives. Other options like Leading change and Stakeholder engagement are important but classified differently within MSP's framework.

The Benefits Map is categorized as a Boundary document. Boundary documents define the programme’s scope, constraints, and interfaces with its environment, helping to establish what the programme will deliver and what lies outside its remit.

The MSP Practitioner explains:“Benefits Map is a Boundary document while others such as programme preparation plan, risk register, and stakeholder profiles are management documents.”The Benefits Map visually depicts how outputs connect to outcomes and benefits, defining the boundary between delivery and benefits realization.

Boundary documents provide critical clarity for managing expectations, preventing scope creep, and ensuring alignment with strategic objectives, forming a foundation for programme governance and control.

All the options listed are correct. Benefits Management in MSP ensures the programme is aligned with strategic goals, understands both positive and negative impacts, and integrates closely with the transformational flow to realize benefits effectively. The MSP Practitioner confirms:"All of the options are correct,"underscoring the comprehensive nature of benefits management across the programme lifecycle.

The Blueprint document defines both the as-is and to-be (future) states of the organization. It provides a detailed description of the current operational environment and the changes required to achieve the programme’s desired outcomes.

The MSP Practitioner explains:“Blueprint defines as-is and future state of organization,”serving as a key governance document to guide design and delivery of the transformation.

By articulating the current state clearly, the Blueprint helps identify gaps, dependencies, and change requirements, ensuring that the programme’s outputs align with the intended future state, thus supporting successful transformational change.

When a viable Business Case does not emerge, seeking further funding is generallynotconsidered a normal or effective response. The MSP Practitioner explicitly states that funding should not be increased without a credible justification, as this risks wasted resources on programmes unlikely to deliver benefits.

Instead, typical responses include redesigning a less ambitious Blueprint to reduce complexity or costs, closing the programme if it is no longer viable, or exploring alternative approaches to delivering the Blueprint that might improve feasibility and value realization.

The Business Case acts as a foundational control and justification mechanism, ensuring programmes only proceed with a clear strategic rationale and realistic benefit realization plan. Continuing to invest without a strong Business Case undermines governance principles and risks programme failure.

Therefore, while redesign or closure are pragmatic approaches,“Further funding is not provided in case of inability to find a viable business case,”reinforcing MSP’s disciplined approach to investment and risk management.

One of the key outputs of the 'Defining the Programme' process is establishing the Governance Baseline. This baseline sets out the governance framework, including roles, responsibilities, controls, and decision-making structures that will apply throughout the programme lifecycle. Defining the governance baseline early ensures clear accountability and oversight, which is vital for managing complexity and risk in transformational change.

The MSP Practitioner explains that during 'Defining the Programme,'“Governance is baselined”to create a robust foundation for programme control. This process involves formalizing the authority of the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO), the programme board, and other governance roles, ensuring they are empowered to manage and oversee programme activities effectively. It also includes establishing reporting lines, approval mechanisms, and quality assurance controls to maintain programme integrity.

Without a clearly defined governance baseline, programmes risk poor decision-making, ambiguity in responsibility, and inconsistent oversight, which can lead to scope creep, misalignment with strategic goals, and failure to realize benefits. The governance baseline serves as a reference point against which programme performance and compliance can be measured, enabling corrective action when deviations occur.

In summary, the Governance Baseline is a critical control output that defines how the programme will be directed and controlled, safeguarding successful delivery and alignment with corporate strategy throughout the programme’s life.

Dependency management isnotconsidered a principal control for managing the tranches but rather a governance control related to delivering the benefits.

The MSP Practitioner explains:“Dependency management is governance control for Delivering the benefits,”which means while dependencies between projects and benefits must be managed, they are not direct tranche controls.

Principal tranche controls focus on approving and reviewing Business Cases and conducting Benefit Reviews to ensure each tranche delivers value and remains aligned with strategic objectives.

Recognizing this distinction helps ensure the programme maintains effective controls focused on stage delivery and benefit realization without conflating governance functions.

Capital costs are the costs of fixed assets and other tangible assets that are required for the programme. The MSP Practitioner states:“Cost of fixed assets and other assets that are found under 'Technology' head in blueprint is called Capital cost.”This typically includes equipment, buildings, and infrastructure necessary for the programme outputs.

The four critical tests for benefits validation are Description, Observable outcomes, Attribution, and Measurement. "Attribution" assesses whether the programme is genuinely responsible for the benefit. The MSP Practitioner confirms,"Four tests of business validation are: Description, Observable outcomes, Attribution and Measurement,"emphasizing the importance of validating benefits to ensure they result directly from programme activities.

Although the Sponsoring Group formally gives the approval to proceed, the accountability for this approval rests with the Senior Responsible Owner (SRO). The MSP Practitioner notes:“Approval to proceed is always given by Sponsoring group on recommendation from SRO. SRO is accountable for it.”This means the SRO takes responsibility for ensuring the programme is ready to move forward and manages the formal approval process through the Sponsoring Group.

Designing the Projects Dossier is a key activity in the 'Defining a Programme' process. The Projects Dossier is a comprehensive document that defines all the projects within the programme, detailing their scope, objectives, interdependencies, and delivery approach.

The MSP Practitioner states:“Only project dossier is created in defining programme from available options,”emphasizing that managing transition, producing the Programme Brief, and aligning projects with benefits realization occur in later programme stages.

Developing a well-structured Projects Dossier is critical for effective programme planning, control, and coordination of project delivery to achieve overall programme benefits.

A vision-led programme is one that is undertaken to fulfil political ideas and priorities, such as electoral promises. These programmes are driven by a clear vision for change that aligns with political or societal goals rather than just compliance or operational needs. Public programmes started to fulfil electoral promises fit this definition of vision-led programmes as they reflect a vision for future societal outcomes.

The false statement is that“End of tranche review drives benefits management.”In MSP, benefits management drives end of tranche reviews rather than the other way around.

The MSP Practitioner clarifies:“Benefits management drives end of tranche reviews,”meaning that benefits realization considerations inform tranche planning, execution, and review processes.

This approach ensures that benefit delivery remains central to programme governance and decision-making, promoting alignment of delivery with strategic value.

The Programme Manager holds responsibility for preparing for the next tranche in the programme lifecycle. This involves planning, coordination, and ensuring all necessary resources, approvals, and governance arrangements are in place for the tranche to proceed smoothly.

The MSP Practitioner clearly states:“Programme manager is responsible for preparing for next tranche,”highlighting the Programme Manager’s central role in tranche delivery, risk mitigation, stakeholder communication, and readiness activities.

Preparation for the next tranche includes refining project dossiers, updating the Business Case if necessary, coordinating with the Benefits Realization Manager and other roles, and ensuring that lessons learned from the previous tranche inform future work. This continuous cycle of preparation and delivery ensures programme adaptability, control, and alignment with strategic objectives.

The Programme Board provides governance and approval but delegates the operational responsibilities to the Programme Manager. The Programme Office supports through administrative functions, and the Benefits Realization Manager focuses on benefit tracking rather than tranche planning.

A Vision Statement is a succinct and compelling description of the desirable future state that the programme aims to achieve. It serves to inspire and align stakeholders around the intended outcomes and benefits. The MSP Practitioner outlines key characteristics of a Vision Statement, including that it must describe a desirable future and be concise to ensure clarity and focus.

Key benefits are often implicit within the Vision, providing a motivational overview without delving into detailed measurement or timelines.

However, the Vision Statement is NOT normally time-dependent. Time frames and milestones are introduced later in the programme planning stages, such as in the Business Case or Programme Plan. The MSP Practitioner explains:“Vision statement does not include time frames until programme is time bound in nature,”which means the Vision is more about 'what' will be achieved rather than 'when.'

This approach allows the Vision to remain stable even if timeframes or specific project plans evolve. The focus remains on the transformational goal, providing a constant reference point as the programme adapts to challenges and changes.

Therefore, including time-dependence in the Vision Statement could unnecessarily constrain the programme’s strategic focus or create misalignment if schedules shift.

A key attribute for a Programme Manager is a good knowledge of project management approaches. This expertise enables the Programme Manager to oversee and coordinate multiple interrelated projects, ensuring they deliver outputs that collectively realize programme objectives.

The MSP Practitioner states:“Programme Manager should have good project management skills,”emphasizing that while strategic leadership and stakeholder engagement are important, the ability to manage the complexities of project delivery is fundamental to the Programme Manager role.

While change management skills and access to key stakeholders are important complementary abilities, the core responsibility of managing project delivery across a dossier of projects necessitates strong project management knowledge. The Programme Manager acts as the bridge between strategic programme objectives and tactical project execution, requiring detailed understanding of project methodologies, risk management, scheduling, resource coordination, and quality assurance.

This knowledge supports effective integration, issue resolution, and benefits delivery, positioning the Programme Manager as a central figure in programme success.