ROUTING TRANSACTIONS IN A MULTIPLE JOB ENVIRONMENT USING AN APPROVAL FRAMEWORK

• US 20090063240A1
• Filed: 08/30/2007
• Published: 03/05/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/30/2007
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle International Corporation (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: PALLARI, Vincent Francis, Abernathy, Shawn Michael
• Application Number:
  US11/847,686
• Publication Number:
  US 20090063240A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06311 Scheduling, planning or task assignment for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/063114 Status monitoring or status determination for a person or group
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06316 Sequencing of tasks or work

Abstract

Approval routing and processing is provided in a multiple job environment by providing the ability to pass job information through a universal class, along with information for the employee submitting a transaction for a approval, to an Approval Framework. An engine of the Approval Framework determines whether a routing is necessary, and a user list object of the Approval Framework contains the logic necessary to determine the appropriate person to which to route the transaction, using the employee and job information for the transaction. The Approval Framework also writes the job and employee information to a database such that the logic can be reconstructed outside transaction processing or for subsequent processing, such as to determine a status or path of the approval process or to determine a subsequent person or department to approve the transaction.

Claims

1. A method of routing transactions for approval, comprising:

receiving a transaction for approval, the transaction being submitted by an employee having more than one job and reporting to more than one manager;

passing employee information and job information into an object containing logic to determine routing information for the transaction, the job information being passed through a universal class into the object, the employee information identifying the employee and the job information identifying which of the jobs of the employee correspond to the transaction;

determining an appropriate person to which to route the transaction for approval using the employee and job information with the logic of the object; and

routing the transaction to the appropriate person for approval.

2. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

writing the job information and employee information to a database after determining the appropriate person to which to route the transaction.

3. A method according to claim 2, further comprising:

receiving information for the transaction from the approved person, the information including one of an approval and a denial for the transaction;

for an approved transaction, determining whether another approval is needed; and

where another approval is needed, reading the job and employee information from the database and determining a subsequent person to which to route the transaction for approval, the transaction then being routed to the subsequent person.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing a status monitor display indicating a current approval state for the transaction.

5. A method according to claim 4, further comprising:

receiving a request for the status monitor display;

reading the employee information and job information from the database;

determining the current approval state for the transaction; and

displaying the current approval state in the status monitor display.

6. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the appropriate person also has more than one job and reports to more than one manager.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

providing an Approval Framework operable to communicate with multiple applications and provide the object for determining routing.

8. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the object is a User List object.

9. A method according to claim 1, wherein:

the universal class is a User Utilities Class.

10. A system for routing transactions for approval, the system including a processor operable to execute instructions and a data storage medium for storing the instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a transaction for approval, the transaction being submitted by an employee having more than one job and reporting to more than one manager;

pass employee information and job information into an object containing logic to determine routing information for the transaction, the job information being passed through a universal class into the object, the employee information identifying the employee and the job information identifying which of the jobs of the employee correspond to the transaction;

determine an appropriate person to which to route the transaction for approval using the employee and job information with the logic of the object; and

route the transaction to the appropriate person for approval.

11. A system according to claim 10, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

write the job information and employee information to a database after determining the appropriate person to which to route the transaction.

12. A system according to claim 11, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

receive information for the transaction from the approved person, the information including one of an approval and a denial for the transaction;

for an approved transaction, determine whether another approval is needed; and

where another approval is needed, read the job and employee information from the database and determine a subsequent person to which to route the transaction for approval, the transaction then being routed to the subsequent person.

13. A system according to claim 10, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

provide a status monitor display indicating a current approval state for the transaction.

14. A system according to claim 13, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

receive a request for the status monitor display;

read the employee information and job information from the database;

determine the current approval state for the transaction; and

display the current approval state in the status monitor display.

15. A system according to claim 10, wherein the instructions which, when executed by the processor, further cause the processor to:

provide an Approval Framework operable to communicate with multiple applications and provide the object for determining routing.

16. A computer program product embedded in a computer readable medium for routing transactions for approval, comprising:

program code for receiving a transaction for approval, the transaction being submitted by an employee having more than one job and reporting to more than one manager;

program code for passing employee information and job information into an object containing logic to determine routing information for the transaction, the job information being passed through a universal class into the object, the employee information identifying the employee and the job information identifying which of the jobs of the employee correspond to the transaction;

program code for determining an appropriate person to which to route the transaction for approval using the employee and job information with the logic of the object; and

program code for routing the transaction to the appropriate person for approval.

17. A computer program product according to claim 16, further comprising:

program code for writing the job information and employee information to a database after determining the appropriate person to which to route the transaction.

18. A computer program product according to claim 17, further comprising:

program code for receiving information for the transaction from the approved person, the information including one of an approval and a denial for the transaction;

program code for determining whether another approval is needed for an approved transaction; and

program code for reading the job and employee information from the database and determining a subsequent person to which to route the transaction for approval, the transaction then being routed to the subsequent person, where another approval is needed.

19. A computer program product according to claim 16, further comprising:

program code for providing a status monitor display indicating a current approval state for the transaction.

20. A computer program product according to claim 19, further comprising:

program code for receiving a request for the status monitor display;

program code for reading the employee information and job information from the database;

program code for determining the current approval state for the transaction; and

program code for displaying the current approval state in the status monitor display.

21. A computer program product according to claim 16, further comprising:

program code for providing an Approval Framework operable to communicate with multiple applications and provide the object for determining routing.