JP2001229313A - Approver managing device and its managing method - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To unitarily manage the approver of a management system. SOLUTION: This approver managing device 100 stores approver information on an approver for approving a prescribed application accompanying a management job in an approver information storing means 120 in advance. The approver information stored in the means 120 is properly updated by a data processing means 110 to be managed properly when its contents are changed. When the informing request of the approver to the prescribed application is received via a communication means 150 from the management system for carrying out each management job, such as a service managing device 200, the means 10 retrieves the approver information in the means 120 and transmits proper approver information to the requesting device 200 via the means 150.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an approver management apparatus and a management method therefor, and more particularly to an approver management apparatus and method for managing information on an approver who approves a predetermined application generated in management work. About.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Hitherto, in organizations such as corporations, management tasks such as travel expenses adjustment, work management and man-hour adjustment of employees have been performed by a computer.

For this reason, management systems such as a travel expense settlement system for performing travel expense settlement and a work management system for managing employee attendance / exit have been constructed and operated for each management task. In such management, approval by an approver is often required, and a table relating to approval is provided for each system.

[0004] As an example, approval in work management will be described. A description will be given of an example of a work management system that manages the work time and the work stop time by recording the work time and the work record recorded at predetermined intervals, for example, weekly or monthly. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing a procedure for approving an employee's work record.

The work management system 500 has a work record 510 of each employee and an approver list 520 for approving the work record of each employee. When the approval of the work record or the like becomes necessary, the approver 600 sets the work management system 500
Approve the work record of a given employee held by the company. At this time, the work management system 500 checks whether the approver is appropriate based on the approver list 520.

Various systems for managing business, such as a travel expense management system or a man-hour settlement system, have a similar configuration, and perform approval in a similar procedure.

[0007]

However, various systems for performing conventional management tasks have a problem that errors are likely to occur because information relating to approval is separately stored.

[0008] The work management system and the travel expense management system each have a separate approver list, and when there is a transfer or organization change, the change of the approver must be made for each system. It took time and effort. In addition, since changes are made in many systems, there is a problem that errors easily occur.

Generally, the approver list held by each business management system has a one-to-one correspondence table between employees and their approvers, like the approver list 520 of the work management system 500. For this reason, in the case of an organization change or the like, troubles accompanying the transition from the old organization to the new organization were likely to occur. This will be described with reference to the example of FIG. For example, it is assumed that the approver of the work record of the employee a after March 21 has been changed to the approver B due to a transfer or the like. In this case, the work management system 500 changes the approver of the approver list 520 from A to B at an appropriate timing after the transfer occurs.
Essentially, the work record of the employee a must be approved by the approver A until March 20, and by the approver B after March 21. However, work record 510
According to the timing of the change of the approver list 520,
Either approver A or B is authorized. For this reason, there is a possibility that a person other than the approver who was originally permitted to approve may approve, for example, A approves March 21. Alternatively, the approver B who has been approved cannot approve. As described above, in the conventional approver list, since only one approver can be registered, a person who is not the original approver performs approval or an application that cannot be approved occurs. Trouble had occurred.

[0010] Further, such an approver list is generally information relating to an in-house organization, and it is desirable that security is managed. However, in the conventional management system, the approver list is decentralized for each management system, so that a security problem arises.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention has been made in view of such a point, and an object of the present invention is to provide an approver management apparatus for centrally managing approvers of a management system and a management method thereof.

[0012]

According to the present invention, there is provided an approver management apparatus for managing information on an approver who approves a predetermined application generated in a management operation. Approver information storage means for storing approver information relating to the approver, and when an appropriate approver is notified to the management system in response to the approver's notification request from the management system, the approver information is changed Data processing means for updating the approver information stored in the approver information storage means.

In the approver management apparatus having such a configuration, approver information on an approver who approves a predetermined application associated with a management task is stored in advance in the approver information storage means. The approver information stored in the approver information storage means is appropriately updated and appropriately managed by the data processing means when the content is changed. When receiving a request for notification of an approver for a predetermined application from the management system that performs each management task, the data processing means searches the approver information in the approver information storage means and finds an appropriate approver via the communication means. Notify the requested management system.

According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an approver management method for managing information on an approver who approves a predetermined application generated in a management operation.
An approver management device that manages approver information on the approver, stores the approver information in advance, and updates the approver information as needed when the approver information is changed; and A notification request for information on an approver for a predetermined application is received from a management system that performs a management operation, and an appropriate approver for the predetermined application is searched for from the pre-stored approver information, Transmitting the information to the management system that requested the notification.

In the approver management method of such a procedure, the approver management device preliminarily classifies, arranges, and stores the approver information on the approver. When the content of the approver information is changed due to a change or the like, the information is appropriately updated. In addition, when a notification request regarding an approver for a predetermined application is received from a management system that performs each management task, an appropriate approver is searched from the approver information, and the management system that has requested the information regarding the searched approver is sent to the management system that has requested the information about the searched approver. Notify to.

[0016]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

In the management system according to the present invention, an approver management device 100 for managing an approver, a work management device 200 for managing work, and a travel expense management device 300 for managing travel expenses are connected by a network. The work management device 200 and the travel expense management device 300 are examples of management devices that perform various management tasks, and management devices that perform other management tasks are also connected to the approver management device 100 via a network. In addition, the approver management device 100, the work management device 200, and the travel expense management device 300 may be a system including a computer and peripheral devices such as a storage device.

The approver management device 100 includes a data processing unit 110 for managing approver information on the approver, an approver information storage unit 120 for storing approver information, an input unit 130 for inputting an operator's command, an operator And a communication unit 150 for exchanging data with each management system.

The data processing means 110 manages the approver information on the approver, and controls the flow of data between each unit in the apparatus. According to an operator's command obtained from the input unit 130 or a command from each management device input via the communication unit 150, a predetermined process is performed, and the approver information in the approver information storage unit 120 is updated as necessary. Or
Approver update information output means 140 or communication means 150
It performs processing such as outputting to the outside via a port.

The approver information storage means 120 is a database for storing approver information, and classifies, arranges, and stores approver information so that the approver information can be searched under predetermined conditions. According to the data processing means 110, the stored approver information is updated, and at the same time, the approver information matching the predetermined condition is searched, and the search result is transferred to the data processing means 110. Further, information on the approver, such as the level of the approver required for each management system, may be recorded. The approver information storage means 120 may be provided externally as an approver storage device. In this case, the approver information storage device includes some means for enabling data exchange with the data processing means 110.

The input means 130 is a means for inputting an operator's command or update information on approver information, and is, for example, a keyboard. The command and update information input by the operator are transferred to the data processing unit 110.

The output means 140 is a data processing means 110
Is a means for presenting information requested by the operator in accordance with (1), for example, a display device or a printer. Communication means 1
50 receives the notification request regarding the approver transmitted from the work management device 200 and the travel expense management device 300, and transfers it to the data processing means 110. Further, the data processing means 11
In accordance with 0, information on the approver desired by the management device is transmitted to each management device.

The work management device 200 is a management device for managing the work of employees, and includes a work data management means 210, a work record storage means 220, and a communication means 230. The work data management means 210 creates work record data according to the information transferred from the time clock and each department, and stores the work record data in the work record storage means 220 for management. In addition, in order to perform the approval process related to the work record at a predetermined cycle or as necessary, an appropriate information request regarding the approver is requested via the communication unit 230, and the information regarding the approver is acquired and the approval process is performed.
The work record storage means 220 includes the work data management means 210
, The information about the work record is stored. The communication means 230 transmits a request for information on the approver to the approver management device 100 according to the work data management means 210, receives the response, and
Send to

The travel expense management device 300 is composed of the work management device 20
With the same configuration as in the case of “0”, when approval is required, information on the approval is obtained from the approver management device 100 and the approval process is performed. Next, approver information will be described. FIG. 2 is an example of approver information managed by an approver management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention. In the example of FIG. 2, it is assumed that Mr. Yamada was enrolled in the sales department, but became the planning office (main concurrent post) on January 15, 1999.

The approver information according to the present invention includes an approval applicant 410 who makes an application for approval, a department name 42 to which the approver belongs.
0, normal approver 430, withdrawal approver 440,
It comprises a proxy approver 450 and an expiration date 460 for which the approval of the approver is valid. The approval applicant 410 registers the name of an employee who makes an application requiring approval by the approver, and the like. The department name 420 registers a department name to which an approver or an approval applicant who applies for approval (usually the same as the approver) belongs. As the approver 430, a normal approver corresponding to a predetermined approval applicant is registered. The normal approver performs approval in a case where the withdrawal processing does not occur, for example, approval of the work record. Also, the withdrawal approver 440
Registers an approver who approves when a withdrawal process occurs. In general, a withdrawal approver performs final approval when a person who has settlement authority of a manager class directly involves money withdrawal. The proxy approver 450 registers a person who performs approval on behalf of the approver when the approver is absent for a long period of time. The expiration date 460 registers a period during which an approver can perform approval. In this way, a plurality of approvers can be registered according to the level of approval. The withdrawal approver and proxy approver
There are cases where they are not installed as required, cases where both are the same, and cases where they are different, when installed.

Returning to FIG. 1, the operation of the management system including the approver management apparatus having such a configuration and the approver management method will be described. The approver information storage means 120 of the approver management device 100 stores in advance the approval applicant, the name of the approver's department,
Information on the approver including the approver, the withdrawal approver, the proxy approver, and the expiration date is stored. Further, information on the approver, such as the level of the approver required for each management device, may be recorded. For example, in the case of an inquiry from the work management device 200, a normal approver is selected, and in the case of the travel expense management device 300, a selection including a withdrawal approver is registered in advance.

When a change occurs in the approver information, update information is input from the input means 130. Data processing means 110
Updates the approver information in the approver information storage means 120 according to the change information. At the time of updating, if necessary, it may be checked whether the registration is correct. The updated approver information and the result of the registration check are presented to the operator by the output unit 140 as necessary.

The user who approves the work management device 200
Start In the work management device 200, the work data management means 210 inquires the approver management device 100 via the communication means 230 about who is required for each approval. For example, as work records for three days, "A: Taro Yamada-Planning Office-March 20, 1999-Work Management Device" and "B: Taro Yamada-Planning Office-March 21, 1999-
Work management device "," C: Taro Yamada-Planning Office-1999 /
3 / 28-work management device ".
0 to the approver management device 100.

The approver management device 100 includes a communication unit 150
Receives the inquiry about the approver for the three-day work record described above. The inquiry is transferred from the communication means 150 to the data processing means 110. Data processing means 1
Reference numeral 10 denotes an approver having an expiration date at the applicable date and time with respect to the approval requester of the inquiry based on the approver information stored in the approver information storage unit 120, and an approver at a level required by the work management device 200. Search for. At this time, since the inquiry is from the work management device 200, a normal approver and a proxy approver are selected from approvers corresponding to the expiration date. In the case of the above example, "A: Taro Yamada-Planning Office-
March 20, 1999-Yuto Saeki-Kazuo Hayakawa, "B: Taro Yamada-Planning Room-March 21, 1999-Akira Yamazaki-Kazuo Hayakawa", "C: Taro Yamada-Planning Room-March 28, 1999 −
Akira Yamazaki-Kazuo Hayakawa "is obtained. The data of B and C are described in "Taro Yamada-Planning Office-March 21, 1999
---- March 28, 1999-Akira Yamazaki-Kazuo Hayakawa ", the corresponding period may be treated collectively. The search result is transmitted to the work management device 200 via the communication unit 150.

When the work management device 200 receives the search result by the communication means 230, it sends it to the work data management means 210. The work data management unit 210 displays the user whose operation has been performed by an approver (including proxy approval), and performs an approval operation. For example, when Mr. Akira Yamazaki performs the operation, B and C described above can be approved.

As described above, in the approver managing apparatus, the validity period of the approver can be confirmed, and an appropriate approver can be selected for each approval. In this way, it is possible to perform the approval operation accurately.

Next, the operation when the travel expense management device 300 requests information on the approver to the approver management device 100 and the approver management method will be described. Since work management does not handle withdrawals, information on the withdrawal approver is not provided, whereas travel expenses management requires payment of travel expenses due to business trips etc. and withdrawal approval due to accounting work etc. It is common to need the information of others. FIG. 3 shows a data flow between the travel expense management device and the approver management device.

It is assumed that the travel expense management device 300 has received a business trip approval application 710 relating to Mr. Yamada. D, E
Traveled as business in the planning office, and F traveled as business in the sales department. In the travel expense management device 300, approver inquiry information 720 relating to Mr. Yamada is generated and transmitted to the approver management device 100. Approver management device 100
Is an approver whose expiration date is valid at the applicable date and time for the approval applicant of the inquiry from the approver information.
A search is made for an approver at the required level of 0. At this time, since the inquiry is from the travel expense management device 300, all approvers including the withdrawal approver are selected as approvers corresponding to the expiration date. As a result, information about the approver 7
30 is obtained and transmitted from the approver management device 100 to the travel expense management device 300.

The travel expense management device 300 displays, based on the information 730 about the approver, the user who has performed the operation as an approver (including proxy approval), and performs an approval operation. For example, when Mr. Hayakawa performs the operation, proxy approval of Mr. Saeki of D and Mr. Yamazaki of E described above is possible.

Next, registration check at the time of updating approver information will be described. In the case of incorrect registration,
Two cases can be considered: a case where the approver is duplicated and a case where the approver is blank.

When the first approver is duplicated, it occurs due to an error in registration of the expiration date, undeletion of data before change, and the like. In this method, the approver information is sorted and checked by approval applicant-department-date. If a plurality of approvers (same approval level) exist for the same department and the same date due to sorting, the setting of the approver is duplicated. If found, an error message, such as an approver duplication, is displayed or printed on the output means, and an alarm for a registration error is generated.

When the second approver is blank, it occurs due to registration error of the expiration date, lack of input of changed data, or the like. This checks and sorts approver information by approval applicant-date. By sorting, if there is a date for which there is no approver, it can be seen that the approver is blank. If found, an error message such as an approver blank is displayed or printed on the output means, and an alarm for a registration error is generated.

The above processing functions can be realized by a computer. In this case, the processing contents of the functions that the approver management apparatus should have are described in a program recorded on a computer-readable recording medium. Then, by executing this program on a computer, the above processing is realized on the computer. Examples of the computer-readable recording medium include a magnetic recording device and a semiconductor memory. When distributing to the market, the program is stored and distributed on a portable recording medium such as a CD-ROM (Compact Disc Read Only Memory) or a floppy disk, or stored in a storage device of a computer connected via a network. You can also transfer it to another computer via a network.
When the program is executed by the computer, the program is stored in a hard disk device or the like in the computer, loaded into the main memory, and executed.

[0039]

As described above, according to the present invention, the approver management apparatus stores in advance approver information for performing approval for management work. In addition, when the contents change, the approver information is appropriately updated and managed appropriately. When a notification request of an approver for a predetermined application is received from a management system that performs each management task, the approver information is searched and an appropriate approver is notified.

As described above, since the approver information is centrally managed by the approver management device, the management system that performs each management task does not hold the approver information separately. No changes need to be made. Not only can the labor required for change for each management system performing management work be saved, but also errors that occur during the change work can be reduced. In addition, since the approver information is centrally managed, security risks such as information leakage can be reduced.

In the approver management method of the present invention, the approver management device classifies, arranges, and stores approver information in advance. When the content of the approver information is changed, it is updated as appropriate. When an approver notification request is received from each management system, an appropriate approver is searched from the approver information, and information on the searched approver is notified.

As described above, since the approver management device manages the approver information, each management system can obtain appropriate information on the approver by making an inquiry to the approver management device. There is no need to manage approver information.
For this reason, each management system can always obtain appropriate approver information regardless of the transition of the organization and the like, and can save the trouble required for the change performed for each system. In addition, since the approver information is centrally managed, security risks such as information leakage can be reduced.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a configuration diagram of a management system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is an example of approver information managed by an approver management apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 shows a data flow between a travel expense management device and an approver management device.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an employee's work record approval procedure.

[Explanation of symbols]

100: Approver management device, 110: Data processing means, 1
20 ... Approver information storage means, 130 ... Input means, 140
... output means, 150 ... communication means, 200 ... work management apparatus, 210 ... work data management means, 220 ... work record storage means, 230 ... communication means, 300 ... travel expense management apparatus

Claims (6)

[Claims] 1. An approver management device that manages information on an approver who approves a predetermined application generated in a management task. An approver information storage unit that stores approver information on the approver; Notifying the management system of an appropriate approver in response to the notification request of the approver from the management system, and when there is a change in the approver information, the approver information stored in the approver information storage means. An approver managing apparatus, comprising: a data processing unit for updating; 2. The approver information is determined in advance for each approval applicant who makes an application for approval, an approver validity period during which the approval of the approver is valid, a department to which the approver belongs, and an approval level. 2. The approver management apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the approver information includes information on the approver including the approved approver. 3. The data processing means selects an approver of an appropriate level among approvers for the predetermined applicant in response to an approver's notification request from the management system, and notifies the user of the selection. The approver managing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein 4. The data processing means, when a change occurs in the approver information and the approver information is updated, an approver of the same department and the same level for the same approval requester is issued within the same validity period. 3. The approver managing apparatus according to claim 2, wherein the approver duplication is notified when two or more approvers exist. 5. The data processing means, when a change occurs in the approver information and, when updating the approver information, a blank occurs during the validity period of the same level of approver for the same approval applicant. 3. The approver management apparatus according to claim 2, wherein an approver blank is notified. 6. An approver management method for managing information on an approver who approves a predetermined application generated in a management operation. An approver management device for managing approver information on an approver, Information is stored in advance, and when the approver information is changed, a procedure for appropriately updating the approver information; and a request for notification of information on an approver for a predetermined application from a management system performing the management work. Receiving an appropriate approver for the predetermined application from the pre-stored approver information, and transmitting information on the appropriate approver to the management system that requested the notification. Characteristic approver management method.