Patent ID: 7308414

Claim:
A method for illustrating interactions between an organization and a supplier participating in an outsourcing comprising: receiving, from a user, input defining a value chain including a plurality of processes; receiving, from the user, input defining a plurality of elements, wherein one or more of the plurality of elements is subject to one or more of the plurality of processes; displaying, for each process, the one or more elements subject to the process; receiving, from the user, input identifying at least one actor assigned to each process and the one or more elements subject to the process, wherein the at least one actor is either the organization, the supplier for the organization, or a third party to the organization and the supplier; displaying, for each process, an actor responsible for completing the process with the one or more elements subject to the process; and displaying, along the value chain, interactions between the organization and the supplier, said interactions defining a sequence by which to complete the plurality of processes and information that is to be passed between the organization and the supplier; mapping, in a matrix, the plurality of processes against the plurality of elements; populating at least some intersections in the matrix between the mapped plurality of processes and the mapped plurality of elements with the actor responsible for the corresponding process and the one or more elements subject thereto; and displaying the matrix.