Reference modeling and method construction: a design science perspective

Due to its importance for the development and the implementation of standard software applications in organizations, reference modeling has gained intensive coverage by IS researchers as well as by practitioners. Method engineering is covered less, in particular by IS practice. There is evidence that the basic construction and application principles for reference models and methods are similar. The goal of this paper is to analyze reuse potentials. As a conceptual basis, the state-of-the-art of reference modeling and reference model application as well as the state-of-the-art of method engineering and method application are presented. Reuse potentials are systematically analyzed, and future research directions in this area are outlined.