Motivation and the Other Columns | Requirements Analysis: From Business Views to Architecture


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	Requirements Analysis: From Business Views to Architecture By David C. Hay
	Table of Contents

	Chapter 8. Column Six: Motivation

Motivation and the Other Columns

Motivation and Data

Fundamentally, business rules are about data. In Row Three, especially , a business rule constrains what data may be or must be created in the course of business operations. The discovery and definition of business rules must be carried out in conjunction with the development of the data model.

Motivation and Activities

An organization's mission, strategies, and tactics form the structure around which its activities are organized. These, therefore, are the top levels of any hierarchical representation of activities.

Business rules are normally defined in terms of constraints on data, not on processes. We have seen here and in Chapter 4, however, that the detailed documentation of activities can reveal business rules. Indeed, they are often implemented by activities and restrictions on activities. The activities and the business rules must be documented together.

Motivation and Locations

Ideally, a single set of business rules applies to the entire enterprise. In reality, however, it may be necessary to vary the rules by facility. Different locations may be run differently, may have different customs , or may be subject to different laws. For example, different offices of a car rental agency may have different rules for late return of a car, depending on when they are open . Office hours might be different in different sites, and different legal systems may apply.

Motivation, People, and Organizations

This chapter discusses an organization's mission, goals, and objectives. It specifically deals with "elements of guidance" (business policies and business rules) that amplify management decisions, and "assessments" that provide a filtered view of the effect of the environment (there described as "influences") and operations on the organization's ends and means.

An element of guidance represents a message sent by management to its operating divisions. Business policies and business rules must be carefully designed to account for the issues described here.

Similarly, an assessment is the retrieval of information from the operating organizations, interpreting what happened , the influences which caused it to happen, and the effects of these events on the enterprise's ends and means.

Business rules may be specific to the organization involved. There may be good and valid reasons for a rule to be applied to one division and not another. This must be documented.

Motivation and Timing

Goals and strategies typically are not, but objectives and tactics must be expressed in terms of the events to which they are responding. For example, we want to increase market share by 10% in the next six months. Business policies and business rules often deal with external events and recommended ways of dealing with them.

One way to discover rules is to study events and determine the decisions made in response to each.


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