Linking Business Modelling to Socio-technical System Design

Few methods address analysis of socio-technical system requirements. This paper describes a method for analysing dependencies between computer systems and users/stakeholders in the operational environment. Domain scenarios describing the system and its context are used to create an environment model based on the i* notation. A method is proposed to define business organisational relationships, according to the coupling between agents determined by types of event flows between them, and secondly, by operationalising transaction cost theory to obtain an a priori view of relationships according to the market context for a client and supplier. Coupling metrics are applied to assess the degree of dependencies between the system and the users. High-level requirements are suggested to deal with different types of organisational design. The method is illustrated with a case study of a service engineer support system.

[1]  A. Berztiss,et al.  Requirements Engineering , 2002, J. Object Technol..

[2]  Chris W. Clegg,et al.  Information technology: a study of performance and the role of human and organizational factors , 1997 .

[3]  Christopher P. Holland,et al.  Cooperative supply chain management: the impact of interorganizational information systems , 1995, J. Strateg. Inf. Syst..

[4]  Colin Potts,et al.  Towards Integrating Rationalistic and Ecological Design Methods for Interactive Systems , 1995 .

[5]  John M. Carroll,et al.  Generalizing Claims and Reuse of HCI Knowledge , 1998, BCS HCI.

[6]  Shailey Minocha,et al.  Supporting Scenario-Based Requirements Engineering , 1998, IEEE Trans. Software Eng..

[7]  O. Williamson.  The Economics of Organization: The Transaction Cost Approach , 1981, American Journal of Sociology.

[8]  S.D.P. Harker,et al.  The change and evolution of requirements as a challenge to the practice of software engineering , 1993, [1993] Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering.

[9]  Ivar Jacobson,et al.  Object-oriented software engineering - a use case driven approach , 1993, TOOLS.

[10]  Kenji Takahashi,et al.  Inquiry-based requirements analysis , 1994, IEEE Software.

[11]  Ivar Jacobson,et al.  Object-Oriented Software Engineering , 1991, TOOLS.

[12]  Richard Veryard,et al.  EMM/ODP: A methodology for federated and distributed systems , 1994, Methods and Associated Tools for the Information Systems Life Cycle.

[13]  Charles Richter,et al.  A review of the state of the practice in requirements modeling , 1993, [1993] Proceedings of the IEEE International Symposium on Requirements Engineering.

[14]  Tom DeMarco,et al.  Structured Analysis and System Specification , 1978 .

[15]  Alistair G. Sutcliffe,et al.  Analysing Requirements to Inform Design , 1998, BCS HCI.

[16]  Oliver E. Williamson,et al.  Markets, hierarchies, and the modern corporation: An unfolding perspective , 1992 .