Requirements such as integrated view of the customer or global business process integration make enterprise wide management of master data a prerequisite for achieving business goals. The master data application architecture, as a part of enterprise master data management, plays a critical role in enterprises. Choosing the right master data application architecture is a controversial subject in many enterprises. Unfortunately, the current state of the art in research does not provide sufficient guidance for enterprises dealing with this subject. The paper aims at overcoming this gap in research by presenting a decision model for supporting enterprises in the decision-making process regarding the choice of the right master data application architecture. To design the model, Multiple-Criteria Decision Analysis and Design Science Research Methodology were applied.

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Business rules can be crucial to an organization's business operations. In view of a growing number of internal and external challenges (such as compliance with regulations, the need for organizational agility, or the need to retain organizational knowledge), organizations increasingly are forced to actively manage their business rules in order to stay successful. However, business rules management (BRM) is an organizational task that cannot be encountered simply by implementing a software system. The paper describes the design process toward a functional reference model for business rules management. The model provides three perspectives on tasks and functions to successfully manage business rules. Practitioners may use the model to establish BRM in their organizations, facilitate communication between business and IT, and evaluate software solutions for BRM. From a scientific perspective, the model is a design artifact, representing a theory for designing and developing information systems with the objective of managing business rules.