The application of ARDR in IT project management as a basis for the process model 'REFPM'

Qualitative Research Methods can be used for the improvement of processes but also for designing information systems properly. In combination of these two it is an addition for project managers who need both: knowledge about reflections on project work and a bridge to reflect on technical developments. By enriching the project management discipline of the exemplary iterative model Unified Process a better understanding for the proposed model „refPM‟ will be given which leads to more efficient project work; an example will show the necessary interventions of Action Research and Design Research for explaining the shortcomings of the current approach of the Unified Process in regard to the proposed reflection activities. The main purpose of this model is that it leads to a better understanding of time, cost and quality in project work. If project managers integrate these reflection activities into a project more consciously, they will have the option to pay more attention to the economic effects of their projects because invested money is tied up in projects and a payback is therefore necessary for raising the companies’ shareholder values. Several figures will point to this circumstance to introduce a solution to this efficiency problem especially for project oriented companies.