Method and system for manipulation of cost information in a distributed virtual enterprise

• US 7,469,216 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2002
• Issued: 12/23/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kumhyr, David B., MacPhail, Margaret G., Hassinger, Sebastian D.
• Primary Examiner(s): GARG, YOGESH C
• Application Number:
  US10/112,538
• Publication Number:
  US 20030187748A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,462 Days
• Field of Search: 705/26, 705/27, 705/1, 705/8, 705/10, 707/102
• US Class Current: 705/7.35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/02 Reservations, e.g. for tickets, services or events
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06313 Resource planning in a project environment
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06375 Prediction of business process outcome or impact based on a proposed change
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/067 Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0206 Price or cost determination based on market factors
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0601 Electronic shopping [e-shopping]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A method, system, apparatus, and computer program product for processing e-commerce information are presented. A business entity may transfer e-commerce agreements through an electronic marketplace. The business entity retrieves dependency information about a commercial transaction from an e-commerce agreement. The business entity incorporates the dependency information, e.g., dates, costs, deliveries, etc., as dependency relationships within a project model that represents a project for a product or service for sale by the first business entity. User input is received for manipulating a cost dependency relationship within the project model while constraining the user input to ensure that another type of dependency relationship is not incompatible with modifications to the cost dependency relationship.

Claims

1. A method for processing e-commerce information within a distributed virtual enterprise (DVE) of a business entity, the method comprising:

retrieving a DVE project model that represents a project for a product or service for sale by the business entity, wherein the DVE project model comprises dependency relationships derived from e-commerce agreements such that the dependency relationships constrain modifications of the DVE project model with respect to specific parameters;

receiving user input to manipulate a cost dependency relationship within the DVE project model while constraining the user input to ensure that another type of dependency relationship is not incompatible with modifications to the cost dependency relationship, the cost dependency being represented via a DVE object;

modifying a first e-commerce agreement to change dependency information within the first e-commerce agreement from which the cost dependency relationship was previously derived, the first e-commerce agreement being represented via a DVE object, the information within the DVE object being derived from the first e-commerce agreement, the modifying being performed via a DVE enabling method; and

,

automatically generating a second e-commerce agreement for a trading partner of the business entity in order to seek the modification to the first e-commerce agreement, the second e-commerce agreement being represented via a DVE object, the information within the DVE object being derived from the second e-commerce agreement, the automatically generating being performed via a DVE enabling method.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the business entity and the trading partner transfer e-commerce agreements through an electronic marketplace.