The role of emotion, values, and beliefs in the construction of innovative work realities

Abstract

Traditional approaches to requirements elicitation stress systematicand rational analysis and representation of organizational contextand system requirements. This paper argues that (1) for an organization,a software system implements a shared vision of a future workreality and that (2) understanding the emotions, feelings, values, beliefs,and interests that drive organizational human action is needed in orderto invent the requirements of such a software system. This paper debunkssome myths about how organizations transform themselves through theadoption of Information and Communication Technology; describes theconcepts of emotion, feeling, value, and belief; and presents some constructionistguidelines for the process of eliciting requirements for a softwaresystem that helps an organization to fundamentally change its workpatterns.