Reviewing the Role of Stakeholders in Requirement Engineering: A Stakeholder’s Theory Perspective

The involvement of stakeholders in requirement engineering (RE) varies widely and it is majorly a function of the requirement activities involved. The role of Stakeholdersʼ is considered very important in RE but literatures hardly discuss in details how the two entities relate to each other. Hence, the requirement engineers are finding it difficult to balance the interests of various stakeholders towards creating a sustainable and ethical value. Aiming at improving on how to work with stakeholders in RE, this study carried out a systematic literature review of 104 RE articles as related to stakeholdersʼ theory and employed open coding to categorize various requirement traditions resulting into identification of four major activities - elicitation, communication, validation and modeling. Outlining various approaches in relation to stakeholders, this study guides professionals in taking explicit decisions regarding stakeholderʼs role in software requirement. Three essential topics in stakeholder theory that can improve studies in software requirements when stakeholders are involved are discussed and recommendations on the choice of stakeholders in software requirements from the stakeholder theory perspective are offered.