Information system implementations require developers to first know what they must create and then determine how best to create it. The requirements determination phase of the system development life cycle typically determines what functions a system must perform and how well it must accomplish required functions. Implementation success depends on how well the requirements determination phase is accomplished. The phase consists of 4 general process activities: elicitation, analysis, specification, and validation. Two major project stakeholder populations, customers and developers, are involved in accomplishing the phase. The phase should conclude with the 2 populations reaching a common understandings and agreements on requirements. When stakeholders cannot achieve these objectives their projects typically experience undesirable consequences such as cost overruns, extended schedules, and fail to satisfy customer needs. This study revealed a number of specific factors perceived by stakeholders as impeding their efforts the most to reach common understandings and agreements on requirements. The findings show the majority of factors may be attributed to human-based issues, individual humans and organizations, and that a significantly smaller quantity may be attributed to project complexity, technology change, and the methods and techniques used by analysts and requirements engineers to elicit requirements from customers. The findings should permit stakeholders to create new and improve existing methodologies and techniques used to accomplish the requirements phase. The findings also contribute to the development of a sound basis for a comprehensive theory for the phenomenon. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]