Business graph model

Abstract

A change to a particular measure is identified in a particular one of a plurality of business models. A dependency model is identified that identifies relationships between the particular measure and one or more other measures, where the relationships include at least one hierarchical relationship and at least one non-hierarchical relationship. At least a particular one of the one or more other measures are modified based on the change and the relationships.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method comprising:
 identifying a change to a particular measure in a particular one of a plurality of business models;   identifying a dependency model identifying relationships between the particular measure and one or more other measures, wherein the relationships include at least one hierarchical relationship and at least one non-hierarchical relationship; and   modifying at least a particular one of the one or more other measures based on the change and the relationships.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular business model comprises a plan model. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein the plan model represents a respective business outcome expressed as one or more respective outcome measures and includes:
 one or more input drivers representing variables influencing the one or more outcome measures; and   a scope model defining a domain of the plan model to which the business outcome applies.   
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the particular other measure is in a different one of the plurality of business models. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the dependency model models a relationship between the particular business model and the different business model. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the dependency model further defines relationships between two or more computational entities. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein values of at least some of the measures are based on the computational entities. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the particular other measure is modified based on at least one of the computational entities. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein values of at least some measures are provided by input values. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the input values comprise at least one of a source value from a source and a user-provided value. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the change is made in association with scenario modeling. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein the change comprises an input value for the measure and the method further comprises generating a scenario from the particular business model for a particular domain based on the input value. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the value is a value of an input driver, the particular other measure corresponds to an outcome measure, and generating the scenario includes generating a value of the outcome measure based on the value of the input driver and the relationships. 
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 13 , wherein the value of the input driver comprises a hypothetical value for the input driver. 
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 12 , further comprising presenting a graphical representation of the scenario on a user interface of a display device. 
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the generated scenario comprises a first version of a particular scenario and the graphical representation includes a comparison of the first version of the particular scenario with one or more other versions of the particular scenario. 
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each model models a respective business entity. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 17 , wherein the dependency model models relationships between the plurality of models. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein each model defines one or more domains, one or more attributes of each domain, one or more of the measures, and one or more computational entities. 
     
     
         20 . A computer program product, encoded on a non-transitory, machine-readable storage medium, the product comprising:
 a plurality of business models, wherein each model models at least one respective business entity and includes one or more measures;   at least one dependency model to identify relationships between the one or more measures, wherein the relationships include at least one hierarchical relationship and at least one non-hierarchical relationship, and changes to a particular one of the measures are propagated to one or more other measures based on one or more of the relationships.   
     
     
         21 . The product of  claim 20 , wherein the plurality of business models comprise a network of plan models, and each plan model models one or more respective business outcomes. 
     
     
         22 . The product of  claim 21 , wherein the network of plan models comprises a network of plan models for a plurality of business units within a particular organization. 
     
     
         23 . At least one machine accessible storage medium having instructions stored thereon, the instructions when executed on a machine, cause the machine to:
 identify a change to a particular measure in a particular one of a plurality of business models;   identify a dependency model identifying relationships between the particular measure and one or more other measures, wherein the relationships include at least one hierarchical relationship and at least one non-hierarchical relationship; and   modify at least a particular one of the one or more other measures based on the change and the relationships.   
     
     
         24 . A system comprising:
 at least one processor;   at least one memory element;   a plurality of business models, wherein each business model comprises one or more measures in a plurality of measures;   a dependency model to model relationships between the plurality of measures, wherein the relationships comprise at least one hierarchical relationship and at least one non-hierarchical relationship; and   a formula engine to:
 identify a change to a particular one of the plurality of measures; 
 identify a particular one of the relationships corresponding to the particular measure and at least one other measure; and 
 modify the other measure based on the change and the particular relationship.