Impact of Software Requirement Volatility Pattern on Project Dynamics: Evidences from a Case Study

TL;DR

This paper investigates how different patterns of requirement changes affect project outcomes using a system dynamics model of the waterfall process, highlighting the importance of understanding requirement volatility for project success.

Contribution

It demonstrates the effectiveness of system dynamics modeling in analyzing project performance under requirement volatility, providing empirical evidence from a case study.

Findings

Requirement volatility impacts project outcomes significantly.

System dynamics modeling can predict deviations in project performance.

Results support adopting system dynamics for better project management.

Abstract

Requirements are found to change in various ways during the course of a project. This can affect the process in widely different manner and extent. Here we present a case study where-in we investigate the impact of requirement volatility pattern on project performance. The project setting described in the case is emulated on a validated system dynamics model representing the waterfall model. The findings indicate deviations in project outcome from the estimated thereby corroborating to previous findings. The results reinforce the applicability of system dynamics approach to analyze project performance under requirement volatility, which is expected to speed up adoption of the same in organizations and in the process contribute to more project successes.