Introduction to Hierarchies

In this article we will explore: 

1) What is a hierarchy?

2) Hierarchy Glossary of terms

3) How the hierarchy is used?

4) An example hierarchy

What is a Hierarchy?

A hierarchy is a structure that defines how a client’s locations are organized.

It is often similar to how a folder directory is set up on a computer, starting with the top/main folder, and within that folder there are sub-folders, and each of the sub-folders might also contain sub-folders.

When discussing a hierarchy though, we talk about "nodes", rather than folders or files.

Hierarchy Glossary: 

• A node refers to an individual component/element of the hierarchy.
• Your hierarchy is like an inverted tree, and the top-level hierarchy node is called the root node. This is generally the name of your organization and is created by default when your organization is created.
• A parent node is ANY hierarchy node that has another hierarchy node beneath it in the hierarchy structure.
• A child node is ANY hierarchy node that has a parent. This includes ALL hierarchy nodes with the exception of the root node.
• A leaf node is any node that is at the end of the tree.
• Within the Intouch platform, leaf nodes can be one of 2 types.
  • Generic nodes ('Location' toggle is not enabled)
  • Location nodes (enabled via 'Location' toggle) are configured with address details. 
    • When a survey includes a 'Location' type question, only 'Location' type nodes will be shown to the end-user.
    • When performing a Check audit, only 'Location' type nodes will be available to the auditor.

How the Hierarchy Used? 

Within the Intouch platform, the hierarchy is used to help segment and restrict access to data in Intelligence/LiaCX, as well where a user might be able to perform an Audit using Intouch Check. 

Most data within the platform (with the exception of some cases and files) will be associated with a hierarchy node.

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Note: When referring to data here, this includes records (Mystery Shop, Overt Audit, Check Audit, Survey, or external data results) as well as cases (actions created in IQ), Followups (actions created in Check) or file list files within the Intouch platform. 

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Segmenting Data: 

Within Intelligence/LiaCX reporting, global filters provide the ability to filter views down to a specific hierarchy node (including the data from children of the selected node) via the hierarchy filter.

The 'Hierarchy Summary' dashboard in Intelligence/LiaCX reporting provides aggregate scoring by hierarchy.

With custom dashboards and records lists, there are many additional opportunities to report on your organization's data by hierarchy.

Restricting access to data:

A user will have access to all data associated with the hierarchy node(s) they have been associated with, assuming they have also been given access to view data for all products.

• • A user will have access to all data associated with the hierarchy nodes they are associated with.
  • A user will also have access to all data associated with hierarchy nodes that are children of the hierarchy nodes they are associated with.

When a user navigates to Intelligence/LiaCX reporting, all views will include only data associated with locations/hierarchy they have been associated with.

An Example Hierarchy Setup:

• Your hierarchy is like a tree, and the top-level hierarchy node is called the root node. This is generally the name of your organization and is created by default when your organization is created. In the example below this is 'ABC Company'.
• A parent node is ANY hierarchy node that has another hierarchy node beneath it in the hierarchy structure. In the example below, ABC Company, ABC Retail, ABC Operations, ABC Region 1, and ABC Region 2 are all parent nodes.
• A child node is ANY hierarchy node that has a parent. This includes ALL hierarchy nodes with the exception of the root node.
• A leaf node is any node that is at the end of the tree. In the example below, ABC Store 1, ABC Store 30, ABC Warehouse 1, and ABC Online orders are all leaf nodes.
• Within the Intouch platform, leaf nodes can be one of 2 types.
  • Generic nodes ('Location' toggle is not enabled) are not physical locations but might be a particular department that is dispersed between locations.
  • Location nodes (enabled via 'Location' toggle) are configured with address details. In the example below. ABC Store 1, ABC Store 30, and ABC Warehouse 1 are all set up as Location type nodes.
    • When a survey includes a 'Location' type question, only 'Location' type nodes will be shown to the end-user.
    • When performing a Check audit, only 'Location' type nodes will be available to the auditor.

• In the example above: 
  • A user that has been added to the root node (ABC Company) will have access to data associated with ANY hierarchy node. 
  • A user that has been added to the ABC Retail will have access to all data associated with the ABC retail hierarchy node, as well as all data associated with the ABC Region 1, ABC Region 2, ABC Store 1, and ABC Store 30 hierarchy nodes. They will not see data associated directly with ABC company, ABC Operations, ABC Warehouse 1, or ABC Online orders.
  • A user that has been added to the ABC Region 1 will have access to all data associated with the ABC Region 1 hierarchy node, as well as all data associated with the ABC Store 1. hierarchy nodes. They will not see data associated directly with ABC company, ABC Retail, ABC Operations, ABC Region 2,  ABC Store 30, ABC Warehouse 1, or ABC Online orders.
  • A user that has been added to the ABC Store 1 will have access to all data associated with the ABC Store 1 hierarchy node. They will not see data associated directly with ABC company, ABC Retail, ABC Operations, ABC Region 1, ABC Region 2, ABC Store 30, ABC Warehouse 1, or ABC Online orders.