Towards More Realistic Assumptions about Organizations in Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering Frameworks
Download: RCIS08.
Authors: Ivan J. Jureta, Stephane Faulkner.
Publication: Proceedings of the Second IEEE International Conference on Research Challenges in Information Science, RCIS 2008, Marrakech, Morocco.
Abstract. Requirements engineers analyze information system (IS) requirements with a number of explicit and implicit assumptions about human organizations. Such assumptions influence the construction and use of requirements engineering (RE) frameworks. Ultimately, they affect IS requirements’ quality. This paper overviews recent goal-oriented RE (GORE) frameworks by discussing three assumptions about human organizations: bounded human rationality, opportunism in human behavior, and organizational complexity. A discussion of implications results in a set of desirable and undesirable characteristics for GORE frameworks. They are implemented in a framework, named REQUEST, to illustrate one possible implementation in a RE framework. Theoretical discussions are interwoven with examples from a real world industrial case study in which REQUEST was used to engineer IS requirements at a large international steel producer.
Clear Justification of Modelling Decision for Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering
Download: REJ08 (final draft version). Publisher’s version.
Authors: Ivan J. Jureta, Stephane Faulkner, Pierre-Yves Schobbens.
Publication: Accepted for publication in the Requirements Engineering Journal.
Abstract. Representation and reasoning about goals of an information system unavoidably involve the transformation of unclear stakeholder requirements into an instance of a goal model. If the requirements engineer does not justify why one clear form of requirements is chosen over others, the subsequent modeling decisions cannot be justified either. If arguments for clarification and modeling decisions are instead explicit, justifiably appropriate instances of goal models can be constructed and additional analyses applied to discover richer sets of requirements. The paper proposes the “Goal Argumentation Method (GAM)” to fulfil three roles: (i) GAM guides argumentation and justification of modeling choices during the construction or critique of goal model instances; (ii) it enables the detection of deficient argumentation within goal model instances; and (iii) it provides practical techniques for the engineer to ensure that requirements appearing both in arguments and in model instance elements are clear.
An Agent-Oriented Framework for Enterprise Modelling
Authors: Ivan J. Jureta, Manuel Kolp, Stephane Faulkner.
Publication: (Chapter in) P. Rittgen (Ed.), Handbook of Ontologies for Business Interaction, IGI Publishing, 2007.
Abstract. This chapter introduces an agent-oriented enterprise model for conducting enterprise modeling during the early stages of information system requirements engineering. The enterprise model integrates a set of concepts and relationships that the analyst instantiates when building a model of the part of the organization in which the future information system will operate. The aim is to allow the analyst to produce an enterprise model which captures knowledge about an organization and its business processes, and which can be used to build an agent-oriented requirements specification of the future system and of its organizational environment. Compared to similar models, the present one integrates concepts and relationships allowing the analyst to capture the relevant intrinsic characteristics, such as autonomy and intentionality of human and software agents that are to participate in the future system.
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Recently published research
- Essays in Information Management: Contributions to the Modeling and Analysis of Quality in Information Systems Engineering
- Engineering Pluripotent Information Systems
- Towards More Realistic Assumptions about Organizations in Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering Frameworks
- Clear Justification of Modelling Decision for Goal-Oriented Requirements Engineering
- Dynamic Requirements Specification for Adaptable and Open Service Systems
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Suggested reading
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About Ivan
Ivan Jureta currently does scientific research at the intersection of management science, microeconomics, and information systems engineering. Apart his two MSc degrees, one from the University of Louvain and the other from the London School of Economics, he holds a PhD in economics and management from the University of Namur, where he is with the Department of Business Administration. He lives and works primarily between Belgium and Western Balkans. He is the author or coauthor of some 30 peer-reviewed scientific publications. He lectured about his work at various international conferences and universities, including for instance the University of Trento and Carnegie Mellon University.