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Power and politics in requirements engineering: embracing the dark side?

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Abstract

This paper considers the role of power and politics in requirements engineering (RE). It presents a brief working definition of both terms and provides an overview of existing literature both in RE and related disciplines. It argues that, given the increased complexity, uncertainty, and organisational embeddedness faced by RE in practice, power and politics have necessarily become increasingly relevant factors, but that they have not yet been given adequate consideration. A framework for analysis is presented, examining power and politics in turn through the structure of power relations and the process of decision-making. This framework is explored by applying it to a case study of a website development in a publishing company. The use of a case study is intended to demonstrate the proposed framework, perform an initial validation of it, and an assessment of its utility to RE.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Human-Computer Interaction Design, City University London, London, EC1V 0HB, UK

    Alastair Milne & Neil Maiden

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  1. Alastair Milne
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  2. Neil Maiden
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Correspondence to Alastair Milne.

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Milne, A., Maiden, N. Power and politics in requirements engineering: embracing the dark side?. Requirements Eng 17, 83–98 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00766-012-0151-6

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