The Oracle Applications organization model defines organizations and the relationships among them in arbitrarily complex enterprises. This organization model serves as the cornerstone for all of the Oracle Applications products. It dictates how transactions flow through different organizations and how those organizations interact with each other.
Generally, a complex enterprise has several organization structures, such as Internal, Accounting, and Human Resources. You are able to define different structures to customize Oracle Applications according to your business needs.
Oracle Applications provides you with the features you need to satisfy the following basic business needs:
Use a single installation of any Oracle Applications product to support any number of organizations, even if those organizations use different ledgers.
Support flexible organizational models.
Secure access to data so that users can only access relevant information.
Access one or more operating units using a single responsibility.
See: Define Security Profile and Multiple Organizations (MO) Profile Options.
Enhanced reporting capability using the Reporting Level parameter.
You can define multiple organizations and the relationships among them in a single installation of Oracle Applications. These organizations can be ledgers, business groups, legal entities, operating units, or inventory organizations.
You can assign operating units to a security profile and then assign the security profile to responsibilities or users. If multiple operating units are assigned to the security profile, then a user can access data for multiple operating units from a single responsibility.
For information on the security profile, see Define Security Profile and Multiple Organizations (MO) Profile Options.
With the ability to access multiple operating units from a single application responsibility, you can enter setup and transaction data and run concurrent programs for the operating units without switching responsibilities. All multiple organizations enabled setup and transaction data user interface, except some interfaces, include the Operating Unit field. The Operating Unit field in the setup and transaction data user interface allows the user to:
Select the operating unit context for a transaction from a list of values, which displays the operating units the user can access.
Note: The Operating Unit field is displayed across products in Oracle E-Business Suite, such as Receivables, Payables, Purchasing, Order Management, etc. Refer to your product documentation for information on the user interfaces where the operating unit is displayed.
Query setup and transaction data for one or all operating units that the user can access.
Note: If you do not partition the setup data for multiple organizations, then the operating unit does not appear when you access the setup step.
Enable faster data setup or transaction entry by copying a record from one operating unit to a different operating unit.
Default or derive the operating unit context from another operating unit sensitive attribute.
You can limit users to information relevant to their organization. For example, you can limit access for order administration clerks to sales orders associated exclusively with their sales office.
You can specify the inventory organizations that are available to users in each responsibility. The Choose Inventory Organization window automatically limits available inventory organizations to those authorized for the current responsibility.
See: Overview of Inventory Structure, Oracle Inventory User's Guide.
Your responsibility determines which operating units you can access when you use Oracle Applications. If you want a responsibility to access only one operating unit, then set the profile option called MO: Operating Unit. If you want a responsibility to access multiple operating units, then define a security profile with multiple operating units assigned and assign it to the MO: Security Profile profile option. Additionally, if using the MO: Security Profile profile option, you can also set the MO: Default Operating Unit profile option to specify a default operating unit that will default in transaction entry pages.
See: Define Responsibility, Oracle Applications System Administrator's Guide - Security.
You can enter purchase orders and assign for receipt any inventory organization. Your purchase order operating unit and receiving inventory organization can be in different ledgers to receive against a purchase order.
You can create an internal requisition (sales order) in one organization, then ship from another organization, with correct Intercompany invoicing.
You can run your reports at the ledger level, or operating unit level. If you run reports at the ledger level, then the report will submit data for all operating units assigned to that ledger that you have access to as defined by the MO: Security Profile profile option.
Related Topics
Using the Multiple Organization Support Feature in Receivables, Oracle Receivables Implementation Guide
Using the Multiple Organization Support Feature in Payables, Oracle Payables Implementation Guide
Profile Options for Multiple Organization Support in Payables, Oracle Payables Implementation Guide
You can define organizations and the relationships among them. You can define security for either an organization hierarchy or list of organizations.
The business group represents the highest level in the organization structure, such as the consolidated enterprise, a major division, or an operation company. The business group secures human resources information. For example, when you request a list of employees, you see all employees assigned to the business group of which your organization is a part.
Note: This is true in all applications except the HR applications, which support more granular security by a lower-level organization unit, the security profile.
Multiple ledgers can share the same business group if they share the same business group attributes, including HR flexfield structures.
A legal company for which you prepare fiscal or tax reports. You assign tax identifiers and other legal entity information to this type of organization.
You can define legal entities using Legal Entity Configurator or Accounting Setup Manager in General Ledger.
See Using the Legal Entity Configurator, Oracle Financials Implementation Guide.
An organization that uses Oracle subledgers, such as Oracle Cash Management, Order Management and Shipping Execution, Oracle Payables, Oracle Purchasing, Oracle Receivables, and related products. It may be a sales office, a division, or a department. Operating units are not associated with legal entities. Operating units are assigned to ledgers and a default legal context. Information is secured by operating unit for these applications using responsibilities. Each user can access, process, and report on data only for the operating units assigned to the MO: Operating Unit or MO: Security Profile profile option. The MO: Operating Unit profile option only provides access to one operating unit. The MO: Security Profile provides access to multiple operating units from a single responsibility.
You can define operating units from the Define Organization window in Oracle HRMS or from Accounting Setup Manager in General Ledger.
An organization for which you track inventory transactions and balances, and/or an organization that manufactures or distributes products. Examples include (but are not limited to) manufacturing plants, warehouses, distribution centers, and sales offices. The following applications secure information by inventory organization: Oracle Inventory, Bills of Material, Engineering, Work in Process, Master Scheduling/MRP, Capacity, and Purchasing receiving functions. To run any of these applications, you must choose an organization that has been classified as an inventory organization.
You can create ledgers using the Accounting Setup Manager in Oracle General Ledger and define organizations using the Define Organization window.
HR organizations represent the basic work structure of any enterprise. They usually represent the functional management, or reporting groups that exist within a business group. In addition to these internal organizations, you can define other organizations for tax and government reporting purposes, or for third party payments.
Oracle Projects allows you to define organization hierarchies to reflect your company's organizations structure. You can add Oracle Projects-specific organization types to the organization hierarchy (for example, projects organizations or Expenditure organizations) to help you manage your project control requirements. You assign project and expenditure hierarchies to operating units.
An asset organization is an organization that allows you to perform asset-related activities for a specific Oracle Assets corporate book. Oracle Assets uses only organizations designated as asset organizations
Related Topics
Creating Accounting Setups, Oracle Financials Implementation Guide
Operating Units, Oracle Financials Implementation Guide
Setting Up Organizations, Oracle Human Resources Management Systems Enterprise and Workforce Management Guide
Creating an Organization, Oracle Human Resources Management Systems Enterprise and Workforce Management Guide
Defining Organizations, Oracle Projects Fundamentals
Asset Organization Overview, Oracle Assets User Guide
The following information is global. It must be set up once for the enterprise:
Flexfield definitions
Customer Header (customer site is at the operating unit level)
Supplier Header (supplier site is at the operating unit level)