Proceso presupuestario

Three criteria are explored in this section:

• uncertainty (identified by Davis (1982) & livari (1989)'^);

• organisational context (identified by Benyon & Skidmore (1987)); • adaptation and implementation strategies (as identified by livari (1989)).

3.3.1.1 Uncertainty

Uncertainty is often the forgotten link in the customisation process. Not only in the way in which uncertainty in requirements can mould the way in which a system development methodology is interpreted, but also that uncertainty over the life-time of a project can lead to ongoing fluctuating interpretations^^. The latter phenomenon can be illustrated in a number of ways. A method could be applied liberally during the initial stages of a project until a robust set of requirements are delivered, or until the point where management are anxious to exert control over the project or to squeeze a deliverable out of the project when facing looming deadlines, when more rigid procedures are enforced.

The most typical manner in which uncertainty is encountered during a development process is in the emergence of new requirements or changes to current requirements (Harker, Eason & Dobson, 1993). Figure 3.5 illustrates the process by which orgEinisations or development groups react to such a change. New or emergent requirements generate ‘problems’ for the development teams that often require temporary informal or formal procedures to investigate the extent, cost and in some cases, the parties liable for the change. Reacting to change can often have an impact on the development strategy followed, as allowances have to be made for major changes to requirements, and procedures have to be put into place to make sure the changes are carried out. Such changes invariably place demands on sponsoring organisations, development groups and testing teams in order to verify that such changes have been carried out.

In as much as the choice of adaptation strategy will determine this criterion.

strategy impacts on development strategy new demands on processes and structures problem (development pressures) organisation emerging requirements

Figure 3.5: The impact of changing requirements (Chudge & Fulton, 1996).

One of the problems in analysing the impact of such uncertainty on development strategies has been in clarifying what types of requirement changes have an impact. Just as a change to a screen design has an impact on the requirements, then often changes to the sponsoring organisation, or the personnel can have dramatic, but not often immediately apparent implications for the project requirements. Some of these less apparent changes can include (Land, 1987):

• changes in available technology; • changes in legal requirements;

• changes in economic and environmental factors;

• changes in attitudes, expectations, tastes, or in climates of opinion; • changes within the organisation.

Each of these sources of uncertainty have different origins and consequences, and require different approaches to dealing with them. Recognising the need for a more holistic understanding of requirements, Harker, Eason & Dobson (1993) have developed a categorisation of requirements and their origins (listed in Table 3.4), the existence and impact of which are to be traced as this thesis develops. Each type of requirement is summarised as follows:

‘^The concept of emergence will be discussed in more detail in Chapter 8 and 9.

• Enduring requirements: core fimctionality of the system (reflecting on the essential task and enduring character of the client organisation). Traditional systems analysis methods have focused on capturing this type of requirement.

• Mutable requirements: changing organisational goals brought about by change in the wider organisation.

• Emergent requirements: new or changing requirements brought about by improved knowledge of the problem domain.

• Consequential requirements: requirements identified as a consequence of working with the system (prototypes etc.) or by making a particular design decision.

• Adaptive requirements: requirements for flexible operation of the system. These are requirements for change rather than requirements that change.

• Migration requirements: requirements that change due to moving implementations between development platforms or where existing technical systems place constraints on the system.

origins type of requirement

stable technical core of the business enduring evolving environmental turbulence and organisational change mutable

stake-holder engagement in requirements specification emergent system use and user development consequential situated action and task variation adaptive constraints of planned organisational development migration Table 3.4: Requirements and their origins (Harker, Eason & Dobson, 1993)

3.3.1.2 Organisational context

The organisational context, according to Benyon & Skidmore (1987) plays an important part in determining the suitability of tools and techniques. I would argue that the main reason for this is the manner in which organisational processes and structures influence Kensing & Munk-Madsen's "'domain o f discourse'. Hornby & Clegg (1992), in an influential paper*"*, applied Gowler & Legge’s (1978) organisational context model (Figure 3.6) in order to rationalise the processes and structure of an interactive development project in a large bank. They found out that the largely mechanistic and

Certainly within the context of this research.

stable organisational culture of the organisation had a major impact on the nature of user participation. The people who ran the user evaluation teams on the project were often senior managers on the project, in a number of ways users were often bashful, and largely did what they were told, the degree of information sharing between managers and user representatives did not reflect that which would be expected, and viewpoints on the success of the supposedly collaborative exercise were decidedly mixed and often contradictory.

Hornby & Clegg’s (1992) research certainly raises important questions about the applicability of strategies and techniques in certain situations. As a result, the categorisation developed by Gowler & Legge will be tested in later chapters.

Organisation (Structure) Mechanistic Organic Stable Organisation (Processes) Unstable Regulated Open Interaction: Vertical/ command Interaction: Lateral/ consultative Information-sharing: Non-reciprocal Infonnation-sharing: Reciprocal Arbitrary Quasi Interaction: Ritualistic/ random Interaction: Intensive/ random Information-sharing: Non-reciprocal/ sporadic Information-sharing: Reciprocal/ interrogative

Figure 3.6: Communication in an organisational context (from Gowler & Legge, 1978).

3.3.1.3 Adaptation and Implementation strategies

Finally, in this section, our understanding of adaptation and implementation strategies have some scope for improvement in the work of Land (1989) who has defined four categorisations dealing with how a system development project can adapt to contextual

constraints and the types of outcome that are likely to be delivered. This section outlines the four categories, each of which are to be tested in later chapters of this thesis.

The first type of system development is concerned primarily with dealing with technical complexity, and organisational details are not seen as important:

• real world is understood and stable;

• functional specification is a good representation of that world;

• emphasis is on error-free code and accurate transformation of specification.

The second type of information system strategy recognises that the real world is dynamic, and the system development strategy has to incorporate some degree of flexibility:

• real world is dynamic;

• information system itself changes; • specification valid for a limited period;

• emphasis is on flexibility and ability to respond to change.

The third type of strategy is more concerned with dealing with organisational issues, particularly in responding to changes in requirements:

• designers unsure of real-world requirements or user responses;

• highly turbulent environments make confident specification difficult to produce; • emphasis is on experimental methods including prototyping.

The fourth and final type of strategy deals with high levels of organisational turbulence, with the emphasis on ongoing change:

• intense interaction between system and environment; • process of system operation itself changes the environment;

• emphasis is on constantly changing specification and adaptive code.