Refactoring is not the same as rearchitecting

Refactoring is a small scale technique, a collection of small transformations that when applied with skill to a code base helps to improve the readability of the code without changing its behaviour. Unfortunately it has become all to common to use the term with management to hide a project rearchitecturing exercise or rewrite. Such work may be required, however the purpose of refactoring is as a low cost tool to use daily as part of ones programming practice; which helps avoid entropy in the first place.

For more information see: http://refactoring.com/