Requirements Management Methods During Project Implementation in Conditions of Uncertainty

The purpose of the article is to study the issue of application of software requirements management methods during project management under conditions of uncertainty. It has been established that the management of requirements under conditions of uncertainty should be considered as permanent processes of system management of requirements throughout all stages of the project life cycle, which involves activities aimed at maintaining, tracking and checking requirements from the moment of their formation to their implementation and beyond. Based on the results of the research, it was found that the most common requirements management methods are: flexible (Agile) approach; advanced requirements analysis; the "Gradual Disclosure" method; models of iterative and incremental development; the "Minimum Viable Product" method; "Just-in-Time" method etc. It has been established that the use of software requirements management methods becomes especially relevant in conditions of uncertainty, as these methods allow you to effectively deal with dynamic changes and ensure the flexibility of the project. It was found that requirements management should focus on the organization, communication and development of requirements, among which the following can be distinguished: change management, traceability of requirements, communication, version control of requirements documents, etc. It has been investigated that change management involves making corrections to specified requirements during project implementation, as well as assessing the impact of corrections, obtaining permission to modify and update the necessary documents. Traceability, in turn, means defining and maintaining traceable relationships between requirements and other project artifacts, such as project documentation, test cases, and code. Therefore, traceability makes it possible to guarantee that all requirements are taken into account and corrections can be traced throughout the development of the project. At that time, communication facilitates effective communication between project stakeholders regarding the requirement and involves the conversion of updates, resolution of problematic aspects, and facilitating that all members of the working group have a common understanding of the formulated requirements. Also, control over the versions of requirements documents in order to track corrections in time. The obtained results of the conducted research serve as a basis for further research in the part of more effective use of requirements management methods during the implementation of projects in conditions of uncertainty

Organizational and national issues of an ERP implementation in a Portuguese company

This technical research report describes a case of an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) implementation in a Portuguese SME. We focused on the identification of organizational factors that affect the ERP implementation project. We also analyzed the ERP implementation project from a national cultural perspective using Geert Hofstede's dimensions. These dimensions were used to explain some of the attitudes and behaviours during the ERP implementation project. The findings suggest that some of the problems in ERP implementation projects are not of technological nature but may be attributed to organizational factors while some issues related to national culture.Postprint (published version

Designing Software Architectures As a Composition of Specializations of Knowledge Domains

This paper summarizes our experimental research and software development activities in designing robust, adaptable and reusable software architectures. Several years ago, based on our previous experiences in object-oriented software development, we made the following assumption: ‘A software architecture should be a composition of specializations of knowledge domains’. To verify this assumption we carried out three pilot projects. In addition to the application of some popular domain analysis techniques such as use cases, we identified the invariant compositional structures of the software architectures and the related knowledge domains. Knowledge domains define the boundaries of the adaptability and reusability capabilities of software systems. Next, knowledge domains were mapped to object-oriented concepts. We experienced that some aspects of knowledge could not be directly modeled in terms of object-oriented concepts. In this paper we describe our approach, the pilot projects, the experienced problems and the adopted solutions for realizing the software architectures. We conclude the paper with the lessons that we learned from this experience

Uncertainty management in real estate development: studying the potential of the SCRUM design methodology

Real estate development is all about assessing and controlling risks and uncertainties. Risk management implies making decisions based on quantified risks to execute riskresponse measures. Uncertainties, on the other hand, cannot be quantified and are therefore unpredictable. In literature, much attention is paid to risk management. The management of uncertainties is underexposed. Uncertainties appear in the programming and designing phases of projects. The main goal of our research is to develop guidelines for real estate developers to manage uncertainties in those phases

Costs, Benefits and Value Distribution – Ingredients for Successful Cross-Organizational ES Business Cases

This paper introduces my PhD research project on developing guidelines for creating successful business cases for Enterprise System implementations in network settings. Three important aspects that were found to be important in such business cases are: the costs, benefits and the value distribution within a network. Each of the three aspects is addressed in this paper and the relationships between them are pointed out. A research model is presented showing how all three aspects contribute to the main goal of defining successful business case guidelines

Complexity in the Context of Information Systems Project Management

Complexity is an inherent attribute of any project. The purpose of defining and documenting complexity is to enable a project team to foresee resulting challenges in a timely manner, and take steps to alleviate them.The main contribution of this article is to present a systematic view of complexity in project management by identifying its key attributes and classifying complexity by these attributes. A “complexity taxonomy” is developed and discussed within three levels: the product, the project and the external environment.Complexity types are described through simple real-life examples. Then a framework (tool) is developed for applying the notion of complexity as an early warning tool.The article is intended for researchers in complexity, project management, information systems, technology solutions and business management, and also for information specialists, project managers, program managers, financial staff and technology directors

Internet of Things and Their Coming Perspectives: A Real Options Approach

Internet of things is developing at a dizzying rate, and companies are forced to implement it in order to maintain their operational efficiency. The high flexibility inherent to these technologies makes it necessary to apply an appropriate measure, which properly assesses risks and rewards. Real options methodology is available as a tool which fits the conditions, both economic and strategic, under which investment in internet of things technologies is developed. The contribution of this paper is twofold. On the one hand, it offers an adequate tool to assess the strategic value of investment in internet of things technologies. On the other hand, it tries to raise awareness among managers of internet of things technologies because of their potential to contribute to economic and social progress. The results of the research described in this paper highlight the importance of taking action as quickly as possible if companies want to obtain the best possible performance. In order to enhance the understanding of internet of things technologies investment, this paper provides a methodology to assess the implementation of internet of things technologies by using the real options approach; in particular, the option to expand has been proposed for use in the decision-making process

Problem-Solving Behaviours, Organisational Forms and the Complexity of Tasks

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