| Course | MT300 Management of Information Systems |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 7 |
| Paper type | Data governance brief |
| Length | About 540 words, 4 pages double-spaced |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Purdue University Global |
| Program | BS in Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for MT300 Unit 7
Gate Codes Before Card Numbers: An MT300 Unit 7 Data Governance Brief for a Tent and Party Rental Business
[Student Name]
Purdue University Global
MT300: Management of Information Systems
Unit 7 Data Governance Brief
[Instructor Name]
[Date]
Larkfield Event Rentals and its data are composite; the frameworks and sources cited are real.
Decisions for the Owner
1. Approve the six data classes and their access rules.
2. Approve the retention schedule.
3. Approve the rules for a single customer master record.
Why Governance Now
In the framework of Khatri and Brown (2010), governing data means settling which people make which decisions about it, covering quality, access, retention and the rules that define each record. Larkfield has never made those decisions; the cloud platform forces them, because data will now be reachable from tablets on trucks.
Six Classes, Ranked by Harm
1. Site access notes. Gate codes, key locations, alarm instructions at private homes and venues. Owner: dispatch lead. Harm if exposed: a break-in at a client's home. Stored now in the shared inbox; after the move, on the order. Retention: deleted automatically thirty days after pickup.
2. Employee driver records. License numbers, driving histories. Owner: office manager. Retention: three years after employment ends.
3. Customer contact details. Names, addresses, phones, emails. Owner: sales lead. Retention: five years after the last event.
4. Delivery and damage photos. Owner: warehouse lead. Retention: eighteen months, because damage disputes arise within a season.
5. Payment records. Invoices and deposits; card data held only as processor tokens. Owner: office manager. Retention: seven years on the accountant's advice.
6. Permits and venue documents. Owner: sales lead. Retention: two years.
Payment data ranks fifth because Larkfield never holds card numbers, while a gate code in the wrong hands opens a family's garage.
The most dangerous data Larkfield holds is not a card number but a gate code on a seasonal driver's tablet.
Access by Role
Five roles receive the least they need. Office manager: all classes. Sales: customers, orders, venue documents. Dispatch: orders, site notes. Crew leader: the day's orders, site notes and photos. Seasonal crew: site notes on the tablet only, only for that day's stops, cleared from the device when the route closes. The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (National Institute of Standards and Technology, 2024) treats identity and access control as part of protecting assets, and least privilege is the simplest form of it.
A Single Customer Master
The Unit 2 inventory counted about 2,940 customer entries spread over three tools. Merge rules: match on email first, then phone, then name and address; the rental package wins on addresses, accounting on billing names; staff review matches below a confidence threshold. The expected result is about 2,150 customers. After the move, only sales may create a customer, and duplicates are flagged at entry.
Laudon and Laudon (2022) note that poor data quality is among the most common causes of failed systems projects, which is why the merge happens before migration rather than after.
Stewardship and Review
The office manager is the data steward, approving exceptions to retention or access. Each quarter, the steward reviews active accounts, checks that site notes are being deleted and samples twenty customer records for duplicates.
References
Khatri, V., & Brown, C. V. (2010). Designing data governance. Communications of the ACM, 53(1), 148-152. https://doi.org/10.1145/1629175.1629210
Laudon, K. C., & Laudon, J. P. (2022). Management information systems: Managing the digital firm (17th ed.). Pearson.
National Institute of Standards and Technology. (2024). The NIST Cybersecurity Framework (CSF) 2.0 (NIST CSWP 29). https://doi.org/10.6028/NIST.CSWP.29
Reading the MT 300 Unit 7 instructions
In Unit 7 students write a brief deciding how an organization's data will be governed. The brief should open with the decisions the reader is asked to approve. Data should be classified into a manageable number of classes, each with an owner, access rules, storage location, retention period and disposal method. Instructors expect classification to reflect this organization's risks rather than generic sensitivity labels. Access should follow from classification, ideally by role. Retention periods should be justified by purpose or legal advice. Most prompts also ask for data quality rules, such as how duplicate records will be merged, and for stewardship duties and review. A short brief is acceptable if each decision is clear and supported by the organization's earlier findings.
How this MT300 Unit 7 example is built
The sample opens with three decisions for the owner. A short section uses Khatri and Brown to explain why the cloud move forces governance. Six classes follow, ranked by harm, each with an owner, an exposure effect and a retention period: thirty days for site notes, eighteen months for photos and seven years for payment records. The highlighted line says the most dangerous data is a gate code on a seasonal driver's tablet. Five roles receive defined access, with seasonal crew seeing only the day's notes, supported by the NIST framework. Merge rules for the customer master match on email, phone and address. Stewardship duties and a quarterly review close the brief, with the office manager as steward.
Where the points sit in the MT300 Unit 7 rubric
Data governance briefs are commonly assessed on the quality of classification, the logic of access and retention rules, attention to data quality and clarity of decision rights. Graders reward classes ranked by real harm to the organization. Each class should carry an owner and a justified retention period. Access should be role-based and minimal. Data quality rules should address problems found earlier in the course, such as duplicate records. Stewardship and review should name responsible roles. A brief that opens with clear decisions for the reader suits its audience. Frameworks and course text should be cited in APA 7. Linking each rule to a business reason, rather than to general best practice, is what distinguishes strong briefs in this unit.
Common MT300 Unit 7 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Governance briefs often borrow sensitivity labels such as confidential and public without asking what harm each kind of data could cause this organization. Another common gap is retention periods with no reason given. Some briefs assign access by person instead of by role, which breaks when staff change. Data quality is frequently left out, even when earlier units found duplicate records. Decision rights and review are often missing. Before drafting, list every kind of data the organization holds and ask what would happen if each leaked or disappeared. Rank them by that answer. Hand over the ranked list and the brief template, and the governance rules can be drafted from it.
Get an MT300 Unit 7 example written to your instructions
Data differ from one company to the next, so this brief starts from yours. List what your case company holds, add the Unit 7 prompt and rubric, and classes, owners, access rules and retention periods come back in 24-48h, each period with its reason. The first custom brief is free, written to your instructor's requirements. The paper above is an original model document written by our desk, not a submitted student paper and not an official Purdue University Global document.
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MT300 Unit 7 questions, answered
What separates a data owner from a data steward?
An owner is the manager accountable for a class of data, who approves access and retention decisions. A steward handles day-to-day care: fixing duplicates, applying rules, answering questions about what a field means. In a small company one person may hold both roles for some classes, and the brief should say so plainly rather than inventing staff.
How are retention periods decided?
From the purpose the data serves, any legal or contractual requirement, and the risk of keeping it. Financial records often follow tax guidance, which an accountant confirms; operational data such as photos follow the period in which they stay useful. Where a law sets a period, cite it. Where none does, the reasoning itself needs to appear.
Does a data governance brief need to name a framework?
Not usually at this level. Some instructors welcome a reference to a recognized body of practice, such as the DAMA guide to data management, but the grade rests on decisions applied to the case. A framework named and then ignored adds nothing, while one used to structure the classification or the roles can help.
Where can I find a free MT300 Unit 7 sample paper?
The complete MT300 Unit 7 data governance brief is on this page, classifying six kinds of data at a rental business.
Why do gate codes rank above card data in the MT300 Unit 7 sample?
The company holds card data only as processor tokens, while a leaked gate code could lead to a break-in at a client's home.