Information Resources Management Journal, 23(1), 53-73, January-March 2010 53 Copyright © 2010, IGI Global. Copying or distributing in print or electronic forms without written permission of IGI Global is prohibited. Keywords: Enterprise Modeling, Information Requirements Analysis, Information Resource, IS Models, IS Project Management Methods and Tools, Systems Development Techniques, Systems Maintenance INTRODUCTION A business rule is a statement that aims to influence or guide business processes in the organization (Steinke & Nickolette, 2003; Kardasis & Loucopoulos, 2005). Business rule management is critical for business suc- cess (Hawtin, 2003). Although the context of business rules fits into general management, research into business rules has been active in the information system field. This is because the determination of information requirements is one of the most crucial stages in the enter- prise information system development process (Mathur, 1987; Shu et al. 1982; Frolund & Guerraoui, 2002; Vemuri & Palvia, 2006), and business rules are often made explicit during the system analysis and data modeling process in order to be incorporated into the enterprise information system. The field of information resource man- agement has been investigating business rule management for a quite long time (McMenamin & Palmer, 1984). However, there is a lack of commonly applied models of business rule management that can be practically used for enterprise information system management. Because of the problem, sellers of ERP systems Business Rule Management for Enterprise Information Systems Shouhong Wang, University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, USA Hai Wang, Saint Mary’s University, Canada ABSTRACT Business rules guide information system development and maintenance in the organization. The issue of business rules for enterprise information systems has recently received considerable attention. However, as yet little research has been reported on a systematic approach to business rules management. This paper proposes a business rules management model. In this model, business rules are supported by three types of independent information system components: system setting, database, and procedural module. A business rule can be formalized into one or more elementary rule, and a formalized elementary rule is associated with one and only one information system component. Business rules, system components, and their interconnected relationships can be organized into an XML enabled repository for the system development, customization, and maintenance. An example of artifact of business rules management system can be found in an apartment rental management system. This example is used to illustrate the concept of business rules management. DOI: 10.4018/irmj.2010102604 IGI PUBLISHING This paper appears in the publication, Resources Management Journal, Volume 23, Issue 1 edited by Mehdi Khosrow-Pour © 2010, IGI Global 701 E. Chocolate Avenue, Hershey PA 17033-1240, USA Tel: 717/533-8845; Fax 717/533-8661; URL-http://www.igi-global.com ITJ 5495