The process is Survivorship. In Master Data Management, survivorship determines which value should become the preferred or authoritative representation when multiple source records contain conflicting values for the same attribute.

Rules may prioritize particular systems, use recency, trust scores, verification status, completeness, or combinations of factors. For example, a verified customer-service update might outrank an older marketing-system telephone number.

Survivorship occurs after or in conjunction with matching and entity resolution. The organization first determines that records from different sources represent the same real-world customer and then determines which attribute values should populate the mastered representation.

The process requires governance because the "best" value is a business decision, not merely a technical one. Data Stewards should approve the rules, and metadata should record source priority, rule logic, and lineage.

DAMA's framework positions Reference and Master Data Management as the discipline responsible for ensuring consistent core entities across the organization.

Reference Topics: DAMA-DMBOK2 Chapter 10 — Master Data Management; Matching; Survivorship; Authoritative Values; Chapter 13 — Consistency and Accuracy.

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