Writing Effective Business Rules

Chapter 1

The world of rules

This chapter

• defines some important technical terms used throughout this book;

• establishes why rules are important;

• describes the problems that face most organizations in managing rules;

• describes the benefits of the approach described in this book to solving those problems;

• discusses the various ways in which rules govern an organization and its employees, customers, suppliers, and partners;

• discusses how rule management has evolved over time.

1.1 What is a business rule?

Over time various authors have produced different definitions of the term business rule. Unfortunately some of these definitions have conflicted with others.

According to the Business Rules Group,¹ the first authoritative definition ...