US 2002/0165757 A1 · Systems, methods and computer program products for comparing business performance

Abstract

Financial and operational performance of business entities is compared by establishing a mathematical frame of reference based on data from a group of entities, determining a rating value based upon the mathematical frame of reference and data for a first of the entities, and presenting the rating value to the first entity. The data for the other entities is not disclosed to the first entity. Means are providing for normalizing the data so that different entities, such as entities selling different brands, can be compared. More specific rating values can be presented. For each entity, performance indicator values can be trended over time and compared to values associated with the other entities, to provide an indication of areas in which the entity can improve its performance and the value of improving the performance.

Claims32

Dependent claims

A method for comparing the performance of business entities, the method comprising the operations of:

establishing a mathematical frame of reference that is based upon historical data for at least both first and second entities of a plurality of entities;
determining a rating value based upon the mathematical frame of reference and data for the first entity;
and
presenting the rating value to the first entity without disclosing the data for the second entity to the first entity.

1 more element

A method of calculating values for a performance indicator for a plurality of business entities, comprising the operations of:

obtaining a first plurality of account balances for a first entity and a second plurality of account balances for a second entity;
calculating a first sum of a first group of account balances that is a subset of the first plurality of account balances, wherein the account balances of the first group encompass respective aspects of the first entity so that the first group consists of a first set of aspects;
calculating a second sum of a second group of account balances that is a subset of the second plurality of account balances, wherein the account balances of the second group encompass respective aspects of the second entity so that the second group consists of a second set of aspects, wherein the second set of aspects does not include all of the aspects included in the first set of aspects;
providing an equation that is for calculating a performance indicator and that includes a plurality of inputs;
determining a value for the performance indicator for the first entity by calculating the equation using the first sum as a first input of the inputs of the equation;
and
determining a value for the performance indicator for the second entity by calculating the equation using the first sum as the first input of the equation.

4 more elements

A method of calculating values of a performance indicator for a plurality of business entities, comprising the operations of:

obtaining a first plurality of account balances for a first entity and a second plurality of account balances for a second entity;
calculating a first sum of a first group of account balances that is a subset of the first plurality of account balances, wherein the account balances of the first group respectively encompass sales of multiple models sold under a first brand;
calculating a second sum of a second group of account balances that is a subset of the second plurality of account balances, wherein the account balances of the second group respectively encompass sales of multiple models sold under a second brand, wherein the models sold under the second brand are different than the models sold under the first brand and the first brand is different from the second brand;
providing an equation that is for calculating a performance indicator and that includes a plurality of inputs;
determining a value for the performance indicator for the first entity by calculating the equation using the first sum as a first input of the inputs of the equation;
and
determining a value for the performance indicator for the second entity by calculating the equation using the second sum as the first input of the equation.

4 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Systems, methods and computer program products for comparing business performance

Life of this patent

Systems, methods and computer program products for comparing business performance

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims32