# Identifying Key Characteristics of Business Rules That Affect Software Project Success
## 3 Materials and Methods  
Our study was performed in the seven key steps as shown in Figure 1.  
In the first step (1), we reviewed existing literature in the field of BR to define the hypothesis and the six research questions presented in the introduction and Table 1. As was mentioned in the introduction section, since the main focus of this study is a practical perspective, but not a summarization of the analyzed topic in the literature, a systematic literature review was not performed here. We have applied a narrative review, which is towards a qualitative interpretation of prior knowledge [34,35]. It attempts to summarize or synthesize what has been written on a particular topic, but does not seek generalization or cumulative knowledge from what is reviewed [36,37]. The review of the BR field was based on a systematic search in Web of Science (Clarivate Analytics) and Google Scholar for articles published between 2008 and 2021 on which key characteristics of BR importantly affect software implementation project success, using \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c} \hline \hline
**Research Question** & **Theoretical Background for RQ** \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{RQ5} & Well-defined BR are among key best practices for successful software implementation projects according to [PERSON] [5] and [PERSON] [11]. \\  & [PERSON] et al. [31] consider BR as a specific type of requirements, which should be well-defined, since they have to be understood similarly \\  & by a wide range of different stakeholders in activities such as \\  & programming, planning, maintenance, developing test plans, etc. \\  & [PERSON] et al. [12] consider well-defined shared rulesets as very \\  & important for software engineering. [PERSON] and [PERSON] [32], and emphasize \\  & the importance of well-defined BR that make \\  & sense and do not have logical conflicts. Consequently, according to the \\  & analyzed articles, well-defined BR positively affect software \\  & implementation projects success. \\ \hline \multirow{8}{*}{RQ6} & Authors [9,10] found that ensuring traceability of BR from business level \\  & to implementation level positively affects software implementation \\  & project success because traceability ensures an explicit link between each \\  & business rule in the BR model and its implementations in one or several \\  & application systems. If such a link is established, then it is much easier to \\  & maintain IS [33]. To ensure project success organizations need a way of \\  & ensuring traceability between BR descriptions and the actual \\  & implementations of the BR [32]. \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 1: _Cont._  
Figure 1: The key steps of our study. as keywords as follows: \"business rule\", \"project success\", \"software development\", \"software project\", \"IT project\", \"software development success\". Articles dealing with software project success and business rules that were most relevant for our research were considered. Their insights formed the basis for the identification of the key BR characteristics that significantly affect software implementation project success. The analysis results of the found articles, the questions, and the possible answers to the six defined research questions (RQ) are presented in Table 1. The RQ were validated and approved by a focus group of Lithuanian and Slovenian experts. In the second step (2), the questionnaire was developed, which measures Chief Information Officers' (CIOs') perceptions regarding the research questions and the net benefits of software implementation projects. The net benefits of software implementation projects were defined following DeLone-Mclean model of IS success [38]. All items use seven-point Likert scales ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). In the third step (3), we conducted a survey. We focused on the top 1000 enterprises in Slovenia by generated added value [39]. The importance of these enterprises for the national economy makes them a relevant study group.