Partner Determination Procedures

Partner determination procedures are sets of rules for how the system works with business
partners during transaction processing. They bring together partner functions and access
sequences, and include additional information.

You define a procedure and assign it to a transaction type or item category. Then, when you
create transactions of that type or containing items of that category, the system works with
the partners involved according to the rules you specified in the procedure. Therefore, the
system can automatically handle partners for an Internet sales transaction differently than it
does for a business activity, for example, without end users concerning themselves with these
differences. The settings in the procedure apply to both partners determined automatically
and to those entered manually.
Structure
You define partner determination procedures in Customizing for Customer Relationship
Management, by choosing Basic Functions Partner Processing Define Partner
Determination Procedure .
The settings include:
Which partner functions are mandatory and which suggested, which are entered
automatically and which manually, and how many partners can be entered for each
function.
Which access sequence applies to each partner function that is determined
automatically by the system.
At what point the system starts partner determination for each function. This could be
as soon as you enter data, when you enter a product, or when you save the transaction.
Whether the system enters an activity in the calendars of the partners involved
(relevant to activities only). For more information, see Working with Activities.
Whether you can change a partner's address in transactions, and, when a partner has
more than one address, which address is used.
Which partner functions are available in a business transaction and which are not.
The procedure consists of three levels:
Procedure User identifies the transaction categories and item object types to which
the procedure applies.
Partner Functions in Procedure lists the partner functions involved and specific
settings for each function.
User Interface Settings allows you to influence which partner function appears in
individual partner fields (such as contact).
Integration
For a procedure to be available for a particular transaction type, both it and the transaction
type must be assigned to the same transaction category.
For a procedure to be available for a particular item category, both it and the item category
must be assigned to the same item object type.
You define transaction types and item categories in Customizing for Customer Relationship
Management, by choosing Transactions Basic Settings Define Transaction
Types/Define Item Categories .
Example
Your company sells televisions to the store Hifidelity, and your sales people often visit the
store and talk to the store manager on the telephone. To enter these visits and calls in the
system, they create business activities.
You have defined the partner functions Electronics Retailer and Retail Site Manager for
transactions with companies like Hifidelity, and have certain requirements for activities with
them. Therefore, you define a partner determination procedure for these business activities.
System Settings
You define a new partner determination procedure and:
1. Assign it to the transaction category Business Activity.
2. Enter the two new partner functions you have just defined, Electronics Retailer and
Retail Manager, plus the existing partner function Employee Responsible. You
specify that they are mandatory, and that the transaction should only include one
partner as the Retail Manager.
3. Assign access sequences, specify that partner determination should start as soon as
data is entered, and that activities should be entered in the partners' calendars.
This table shows possible Customizing settings:
Partner
Function
Minimum Maximum
Calendar
Maintenance
Access Sequence
Determination
Time
Electronics
Retailer
1 1

Retail
Manager
1 1

BP Relationships
By Sales
Organization >
BP Relationships
Recurring
Employee
Responsible
1 5 X
Organizational
Model >
Business Partner
Assigned to the
User
Recurring
4. Assign this procedure to a transaction type with the transaction category Business
Activity.
5. In the field Permitted Functions on the Partner Determination Procedures screen,
select either Only Functions Assigned in Procedure or All Defined Partner Functions
to determine which partner functions should be displayed and available for use in a
business transaction.
Result
1. A business user creates a business activity in the form of a planned visit to this
customer.
2. He enters Hifidelity as the Electronics Retailer.
3. The system looks in Hifidelity's master data and enters the name of the store manager
as the Retail Manager.
4. He tries to enter the assistant manager as a second Retail Manager, but the system
displays a message saying only one partner is possible for this function.
5. Through organizational determination, the system automatically finds the sales group
responsible for Hifidelity's region. It enters this group in the organizational data.
6. Based on the organizational model to which this group belongs, the system
determines the employee responsible and enters his name.
7. The system enters this visit in the employee's calendar.
This figure shows how the settings in a partner determination procedure affect partner
processing in transactions.