An Exploration into the Process of Requirements Elicitation: A Grounded Approach

Abstract

Requirements elicitation (RE) is a critical phase in information systems development (ISD), having significant impacts on software quality and costs. While it has remained a key topic of interest for IS researchers, a review of the existing literature suggests that there are very few studies examining how the social process associated with RE unfolds. Prior literature acknowledges that this process involves collaboration between RE participants (e.g., user-reps and systems analysts) where knowledge regarding the system requirements is shared, absorbed, and coconstructed, such that shared mental models of the requirements can form. However, collaboration and knowledge sharing within the RE process has been characterized as tenuous in the literature, given that the groups of RE participants bring very different kinds of knowledge into this activity, and trust among the two parties cannot be guaranteed at any point. Despite acknowledgement of the tenuous nature of RE, we are not aware of research that has attempted to present an integrated view of how collaboration, knowledge transfer, and trust influence the RE process. Using data from two different organizations and adopting a grounded approach, this study presents an integrative process model of RE. The study's findings suggest that RE is composed of four different collaborative states. The study elaborates on the four states, and identifies important factors that tend to trigger transitions from one state to another.

Towards an Understanding of the Business Process Analyst: An Analysis of Competencies

“…According to Chakraborty, Sarker, and Sarker (2010), requirements can be elicited from the clients, business users, or process owners. According to Schlegel (2011, p. 5), "this entails being able to find the story buried in every process and communicating it to a wider audience in either a written or oral context."…”

The Structured Process Modeling Theory (SPMT) a cognitive view on why and how modelers benefit from structuring the process of process modeling

“…Similar trends of research shift existed already in the broad field of conceptual modeling (e.g., Hoppenbrouwers et al 2005) and the even more general area of system analysis and development (e.g., Chakraborty et al 2010;Nunamaker and Chen 1990). The underlying assumption in all of these studies is that the quality of the product depends on the quality of the process that creates the product, at least to some extent.…”

“…The modeler forms a mental representation of the process based on direct observation and/or various descriptions of the real or intended process such as interview transcripts, whiteboard notes and requirements documents (Chakraborty et al 2010). It should also be noted that mental models are rarely stable, they keep evolving as more information is processed (Rogers and Rutherford 1992).…”

Information Systems Development Knowledge Sharing-Organizational Justice, Physical Distance and Social Interdependence

“…These literatures covered various techniques to improve RE effectiveness Table 2. In spite of these fruitful studies, many limitations have been identified by scholars (Chakraborty et al, 2010).…”