A strategic framework for requirements change in technical projects: Case study of a R&D project

Requirements Management (RM) is required of effective management of technology intensive projects to ensure the success of projects. Change in requirements is a major risk factor for most of the technological firms. This paper is focused on management of requirements change processes. It proposes a strategic framework consisting of three sub processes that converge in the consolidated overall process to handle these changes in requirements in technical industrial and business applications. Technological firms are exposed to major operational and financial risks in the absence of any such framework. This framework was applied to a technical project undertaken by a R&D organization in a developing country over a period of four years. The progress of the project was closely followed and an analysis of the change management process was done by the management team at the end of the project. Based on this analysis modifications were made to the of the sub processes of the framework and another sub process was added to the overall framework. The strategic framework proposed in this paper can be applied to all the technical industrial and business projects where there is a high rate of change in requirements over the lifecycle of the project.