What can organizational analys give to requirement analys ? Developing an information system in Hospital Emergency Departments

In this article, we develop a method of Requirements Engineering (RE), based on the contributions of the theories of the organizations. This method was developed within the framework of an IS project led in three Hospital Emergency Departments (HEDs) in Belgium. The method intends to take into account as well the functional aspects of the specifications as their political and cultural dimensions. The method that we propose is built on three theoretical levels: the first is mechanical or functional and allows us to describe the existing organizational structure; the second is relational or political and allows us to understand this structure in action; finally, the third is cultural or symbolic system and opens to us with the values which guide the actions in organization.