Generating radial hierarchical network charts to convey organizational structures and associated performance data

A method of organizing and displaying hierarchically structured data of the type having hierarchically related nodes organized in plural different hierarchical levels where the nodes form parent-child relationships representing reporting lines, the method being implemented on a computer and comprising:

• using the computer, ingesting the hierarchically structured data into a tree structure maintained in memory of the computer, wherein the tree structure includes a plurality of levels including a root level and a leaf level, and wherein the tree structure includes a plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the plurality of nodes is assigned to a respective one of the plurality of levels;
• for each level of the plurality of levels other than the leaf level:
• determining whether each node assigned to the level has an existing child relationship;
• in response to determining that a first node does not have an existing child relationship, adding a ghost node to a next one of the plurality of levels;
• and
• creating a child relationship for the first node with the ghost node;
• using the computer, sorting the data in the tree structure according to reporting lines;
• using the computer, adding radial structure to the tree structure by:
• assigning a radial parameter to each node, based on the level of the node,
• assigning an angular parameter to each of a first set of nodes corresponding to nodes in the level furthest from the root level based on a predefined symmetry constraint, and
• assigning an angular parameter to each node not in the first set of nodes based on angular parameters assigned to children of the node;
• and
• using the assigned radial and angular parameters to automatically plot the nodes, other than ghost nodes, in a series of concentric circles.

A method of organizing and displaying hierarchically structured data of the type having hierarchically related nodes organized in plural different hierarchical levels where the nodes form parent-child relationships representing reporting lines and having at least one parameter linked to the nodes, the method being implemented on a computer and comprising:

• ingesting the hierarchically structured data into a tree structure maintained in memory of the computer, wherein the tree structure includes a plurality of levels including a root level and a leaf level, and wherein the tree structure includes a plurality of nodes, and wherein each of the plurality of nodes is assigned to a respective one of the plurality of levels;
• for each level of the plurality of levels other than the leaf level:
• determining whether each node assigned to the level has an existing child relationship;
• in response to determining that a first node does not have an existing child relationship, adding a ghost node to a next one of the plurality of levels;
• and
• creating a child relationship for the first node with the ghost node;
• using the computer, sorting the data in the tree structure according to reporting lines;
• and
• using the computer, adding radial structure to the tree structure by:
• assigning a radial parameter to each node based on the level of the node,
• assigning an angular parameter to each a portion of the nodes based on the at least one linked parameter, and
• using the assigned radial and angular parameters to automatically plot the nodes, other than ghost nodes, in a series of concentric circles.