  The main focus of the requirements engineering (RE) literature has been on
the technical aspects related to the RE projects. Furthermore, research has
mainly focused on the specific methods for collecting the requirements for an
information system. To fill this gap, this paper studies the contribution of
social factors, such as social ties, knowledge sharing and flexibility, to
successful collaboration in RE teams. Data were collected from a successful RE
and development project in a public sector company in Finland. The results
suggest that human-related issues, such as flexibility and transactive memory,
were important for collaborative work in the RE team studied. The paper
concludes by discussing the implications for theory and suggesting practical
guidelines to enhance collaborative work in RE teams.
