Computer-aided methods and apparatus for assessing an organizational process or system
First Claim
1. A method of using a computer to gather information about an organizational process or system, comprising:
- prompting an assessor to select at least two standards against which to assess the organizational process or system, where at least one question is provided within a computer to assess each selected standard;
displaying on a display device the at least one question associated with the selected standards, the question being adapted to prompt an assessor to input the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system;
receiving a first input from an input device, the first input reflecting the assessor'"'"'s perception of the organizational process or system;
comparing within a processing unit of a computer the first input to a first value, and, if the first input has a first predetermined characteristic in relation to the first values, then prompting the assessor to identify evidence that supports the first input, and if the supporting evidence is identified, then validating the first input for subsequent evaluation, and if the supporting evidence is not identified, then inhibiting validation of the first input until the evidence is identified or until the first input is changed to have second predetermined characteristics in relation to the first value.
1 Assignment
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Accused Products
Abstract
Method and apparatus for computer-aided assessment of organizational process or system. Method and apparatus are adapted to display questions on a computer to an assessor, who then inputs numerical and/or textual inputs relative to the assessor'"'"'s perception of the process or system. Filtering techniques inhibit entry of unsupported numerical and/or textual inputs which may be untrue and/or exaggerated. Questions used in combination with additional questions provide more accurate assessment of the system or process, where the question combinations already exist in a database. Questions asked may be directed to one or more recognized standards, and duplicative questions from different standards may be omitted. Evaluations of collected information are performed and additional corrective action questions are asked to identify degrees of risk and areas of weakness of the process or system.
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Citations
143 Claims
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1. A method of using a computer to gather information about an organizational process or system, comprising:
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prompting an assessor to select at least two standards against which to assess the organizational process or system, where at least one question is provided within a computer to assess each selected standard;
displaying on a display device the at least one question associated with the selected standards, the question being adapted to prompt an assessor to input the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system;
receiving a first input from an input device, the first input reflecting the assessor'"'"'s perception of the organizational process or system;
comparing within a processing unit of a computer the first input to a first value, and, if the first input has a first predetermined characteristic in relation to the first values, then prompting the assessor to identify evidence that supports the first input, and if the supporting evidence is identified, then validating the first input for subsequent evaluation, and if the supporting evidence is not identified, then inhibiting validation of the first input until the evidence is identified or until the first input is changed to have second predetermined characteristics in relation to the first value. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. An apparatus adapted to gather information about an organizational process or system comprising a computer system, the computer system comprising:
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a display device adapted to display computer driven questions;
an input device adapted to transfer inputs from an assessor;
a memory and a processing unit; and
wherein the apparatus is adapted to;
prompt an assessor to select at least two standards against which to assess the organizational process or system, where at least one question is provided within a computer to assess each selected standard;
display on a display device the at least one question associated with the selected standards, the question being adapted to prompt an assessor to input the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system;
receive a first input from an input device, the first input reflecting the assessor'"'"'s perception of the organizational process or system;
compare within a processing unit of a computer the first input to a first value, and, if the first input has a first predetermined characteristic in relation to the first values, then prompting the assessor to identify evidence that supports the first input, and if the supporting evidence is identified, then validating the first input for subsequent evaluation, and if the supporting evidence is not identified, then inhibiting validation of the first input until the evidence is identified or until the first input is changed to have second predetermined characteristics in relation to the first value. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49, 50, 51, 52)
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53. A computer readable medium configured to store a set of instructions which:
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prompt an assessor to select at least two standards against which to assess the organizational process or system, where at least one question is provided within a computer to assess each selected standard;
display on a display device the at least one question associated with the selected standards, the question being adapted to prompt an assessor to input the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system;
receive a first input from an input device, the first input reflecting the assessor'"'"'s perception of the organizational process or system;
compare within a processing unit of a computer the first input to a first value, and, if the first input has a first predetermined characteristic in relation to the first values, then prompting the assessor to identify evidence that supports the first input, and if the supporting evidence is identified, then validating the first input for subsequent evaluation, and if the supporting evidence is not identified, then inhibiting validation of the first input until the evidence is identified or until the first input is changed to have second predetermined characteristics in relation to the first value. - View Dependent Claims (54, 55, 56, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64)
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65. A computer readable medium configured to store a set of instructions which:
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display a first user adjustable icon with a first allowed input range;
receive a first input from a user, the first input corresponding to movement of an indicator on the first user adjustable icon;
determine a second allowed input range for a second user adjustable icon based on the first input;
display the second user adjustable icon, with the second allowed input range; and
receive a second input from the user, the second input corresponding to movement of an indicator on the second user adjustable icon. - View Dependent Claims (66, 67, 68, 69, 70)
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71. A method of using a computer to gather information about an organizational process or system, comprising:
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obtaining information about organization to be accessed, wherein the information comprises information regarding assessors;
preparing at least one question regarding the organizational process or system by analyzing the obtained information about the organization;
sending the at least one prepared question to at least one of the assessors;
displaying on a display device of the at least one assessor at least one question adapted to prompt the assessor to input on an input device of a computer the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system, wherein the assessor has at least some knowledge about the organizational process or system;
receiving a first input from an input device, the first input reflecting the assessor'"'"'s perception of the organizational process or system;
comparing within a processing unit of a computer the first input to a first value, and, if the first input has a first predetermined characteristic in relation to the first values, then prompting the assessor to identify evidence that supports the first input, and if the supporting evidence is identified, then validating the first input for subsequent evaluation, and if the supporting evidence is not identified, then inhibiting validation of the first input until the evidence is identified or until the first input is changed to have second predetermined characteristics in relation to the values. - View Dependent Claims (72, 73, 74, 75, 76, 77, 78, 79, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 87, 88, 89, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95, 96, 97, 98, 99, 100, 101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106, 107, 108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 114, 115, 116, 117, 118, 119, 120, 121, 122, 123, 124, 125, 126, 127, 128, 129, 130, 131, 132, 133, 134, 135, 136, 137, 138, 139, 140, 141, 142, 143)
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113. A method of using a computer to gather information about an organizational process or system, comprising:
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obtaining information about an organization to be accessed, wherein the information comprises information regarding assessors;
preparing at least one question regarding the organizational process or system by analyzing the obtained information about the organization;
displaying on a display device a first user adjustable icon and a second user adjustable icon and at least one question, the first user adjustable icon being adjustable within a first allowed range;
the second user adjustable icon being adjustable within a second allowed range; and
wherein the at least one question being adapted to prompt the assessor to input the assessor'"'"'s perceptions of the organizational process or system;
receiving a first input from a user, the first input corresponding to movement of the first user adjustable icon;
determining a second allowed input range for a second user adjustable icon based on the first input;
receiving a second input from the user, the second input corresponding to movement of the second user adjustable icon.
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Specification