PhD ThesisComputers have gone from being solely large number crunching
machines to small devices capable of performing a myriad of functions
in a very small space of time. Computers are now used to control just
about every facet of daily life; they can now be found in automobiles,
washing machines and home heating systems. This rapid diversification
brings a great many problems. Traditional software engineering
methodologies are failing to meet and address these new problems. The
goal of this thesis is to develop a new approach to organisational
requirements engineering. A new modelling approach to representing
organisations will be developed which will draw upon the concepts of a
systems architecture, modelling the life cycle of responsibilities and the
execution of conversations. Using this architecture an organisation will
be able to embed social and cultural aspects within the modelling
notation. From the modelling of responsibilities a clearer picture of the
organisation's aims, objectives and policies will be developed along
with a definition of what objects and access rights are required in order
for the organisation to function. Using speech act and Petri net based
models to model conversations a clearer understanding of the dynamics
and constraints governing organisational behaviour can be developed.
These modelling approaches are then applied to two real life case studies
in order to demonstrate and evaluate their performance and usefulness