Abstract:

Managing a software project and delivering the right product are considerably complicated and complex tasks in modern business environment. The “right” product means that it suits the needs of all stakeholders and helps the company to achieve strategic business goals. In order to visualize this “right” product and engage all the parties around it, all the requirements need to be defined and managed properly. This issue has to be addressed systematically with use of suitable requirements engineering (RE) approach. The applicability of RE approach for the particular project context is controversial and requires conceptual investigation under the prism of complexity theory. This study aims to reveal whether the applicability of RE approach for the particular project context could be potentially influential on the project outcomes. The goal of the research is to understand also whether the complexity of core problem could give a hint about the RE approach, which would be the most suitable in a particular case. The analysis of different software projects revealed the importance of approach complexity being compatible with the problem level and its influence on the project outcomes.