Patent ID: 7895072

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for developing and managing a business initiative in a business network including business locations, the method comprising: developing, by a computer, an initiative to apply to the business network; determining, by a computer, a number of test sites to form the set of test sites based on a confidence value reflecting an estimated measurement of confidence that a measured change in performance in those test sites is statistically meaningful; designing, by the computer, a test for the initiative using the determined number of test sites, wherein designing the test for the initiative includes: accessing a data structure that includes information reflecting the status of any existing initiatives assigned to any of the business locations in the business network; and selecting the business locations that correspond to the test sites based on the status information, wherein the selected business locations do not have any existing initiatives; producing, by the computer, a list of business locations to be included in the initiative; wherein designing the test for the initiative includes selecting a set of control sites that correspond to business locations that do not execute the initiative during the designed test; and determining whether the set of control sites are appropriate for the initiative based upon a comparison between the set of test sites and the selected control sites.