Chapter 

3. SPOCK – the Building Block of OM

We will now learn how the Organizational Management (OM) submodule is configured

to map the business requirement in a SAP system. We will see how a functional
structure is mapped into the system. In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:

 The basic concepts of OM

 Creating an organizational structure
 Integrating OM with Personnel Administration

The concepts of Organization Management

The building blocks of OM are SPOCK. They are described as follows:

 S: This stands for Position (for example, HR Manager, Marketing Director, and so

on)
 P: This stands for Person
 O: This stands for Organizational unit (also known as Org unit; it represents the
department in a company)
 C: This stands for Job (for example, manager, director, and so on)
 K: This stands for Cost Center

Note

Note that both K and P are external object types. The K object type, Cost Center, is
maintained in the FI/CO module, and the P object type, Person, is maintained in the PA
submodule. When we say external, it is simply not created in the OM submodule.

SAP has delivered multiple interfaces to design an organizational structure, and we will
understand each of them separately.

Elucidating an organizational structure

An organizational structure is a functional structure. It simply represents the
departmental hierarchy in a company. It identifies each Job, Position, its functions, and
where it reports to within the organization. The following table is an example of an
organizational structure:

Departmen
Compan ts (suborg Subordinate
y name units) departments Positions Jobs

ABC Administrati    Office  Direct

Paper on Supervis or
Compan or  Manag
y (Root  Office er
organizat Clerk  Analys
ional  Receptio t
unit) nist  Admini
strator
Human    HR  Super
Resource Directo visor
s r
 Benefit
s
Adminis
trator
 Hiring
Manager
 Hiring
Analyst

Finance  Accou  A/P

nts Manager
Payab  A/P
le Clerk
 Accou  A/R
nts Manager
 Departmen
Compan ts (suborg Subordinate
y name units) departments Positions Jobs

Recei  A/R
vable Clerk

Manufact  Pulp  Plant

uring  Paper supervi
 Maint sor
enanc  Technic
e ian
shift 1
- 05
 Technic
ian
shift 2
- 05
 Mainten
ance
supervi
sor

Basic relationships between organizational objects

The relationships in organizational management are mostly similar to a parent-child

structure in two ways. A Position can belong to an organizational unit, and inversely,
can be incorporated by an organizational unit. In the following table, A indicates the
bottom-up approach, while B indicates the top-down approach:

Relationship Related
type object type Relationship name

A002 O-O An organizational unit reports to another

 Relationship Related
type object type Relationship name

organizational unit

B002 O-O This is the line supervisor of an

organizational unit

A003 S-O All the Positions that reports to

an organizational unit

B003 O-S A Position belongs to an

organizational unit

A007 C-S A Job describes a Position

B007 S-C A Position is described by a Job

A012 S-O The chief Position manages an

organizational unit

B012 O-S An organizational unit is managed

by a chief Position

A011 K This is the Cost Center

assignment

A008 P-S This is a Position-to-Person

relationship

B008 S-P This is a Person-to-Position

relationship

It is important to note that Cost Center is always one sided unlike other object types that
can have both A and B. It can be mapped either to an Org unit or to a Position,
depending on the business requirement.
Tip

Irrespective of the interface we use to create the structure, the object types are stored in
the HRP1000 table, and the relationship between the two object types is stored in HRP1001.

When we discuss relationships, it is important to know the concept of the evaluation

path in SAP. The evaluation path lets us create a relationship between two object types.
An evaluation path can also have a sequence of object relationships. The evaluation
path can be accessed by navigating to SPRO | Personnel
Management | Organizational Management | Basic Settings | Data Model
Enhancement | Maintain Evaluation Paths or via OOAW. The BOSSONLY T-code, for
example, is a standard evaluation path that can be used in a report that will fetch the
Org units that have the B012 relationship and the holder of the Position.

Building an organizational structure

The different methods of building an organizational structure are as follows:

 Organization and Staffing

 Simple Maintenance
 Expert Mode

Creating an organizational structure with different interfaces

There are multiple interfaces provided by SAP to build a functional structure. We will

look at each of them in detail.

Organization and Staffing

The Organization and Staffing method of building organizational structure is delivered

by SAP in a scenario where the company does not have an HR module, but the
organizational structure is needed for the purpose of other modules, for example,
workflow requirements. Using this method, the organization objects can be moved using
the drag-and-drop approach. Also, we can add some extra attributes to the
organizational objects.

To work in this module, you have to navigate to SAP Easy Access | Organizational

Management | Organizational Plan | Organization and Staffing | PPOCE - Create.
The following screenshot demonstrates the navigation path:

When you use the PPOCE - Create T-code, it prompts you to enter the start date and
end date, as seen in the following screenshot. It is recommended that you have the start
date as backdated as possible, say 01011900, for instance.

The relationship between an Org unit and Position

We can use the PPOME T-code to use this interface via the SAP Easy Access screen.
We can right-click on Organizational unit, select Assign, and click on Incorporates,
as shown in the following screenshot:

You can enter the name of the Position, as shown in the following box, and click
on Enter. You can see that the Asst Manager position belongs to New organizational
unit. Also, notice O and S under ID. As discussed earlier, O refers to the Org unit
and S is for Position.

The relationship between Position and Job

We will use the PPOME T-code again, to use this interface via the SAP Easy Access
screen. Click on Edit and select Create Job. When the Create Job window opens,
enter the required fields, as shown in the following screenshot. You can create the
required jobs and click on Enter. The jobs are saved, and we can assign them to
positions by selecting the jobs that you have created for the positions.

We will see how a Cost Center is mapped to an Org unit. Click on the Accounting tab
after you execute the PPOME T-code. You can assign the Cost Center either to the
position or the Org unit by entering the required details. This is demonstrated in the
following screenshot:

The Cost Center is an external object and can be mapped to either an Org unit or a
position.
Note

Note that OM is strongly built on the principle of inheritance. When the Cost Center is
mapped to the parent Org unit, all the other Org units or positions mapped to them will
automatically have the Cost Center tagged to them.

The following screenshot is an example that shows how a Master Cost Center is
mapped to the Org unit by clicking on the Accounting tab in the PPOME T-code:

Simple Maintenance

The Simple Maintenance method, an older method of maintaining an organizational

structure, is used to build an organizational structure and assign Cost Center in an easy
way on one screen itself. This method is recommended to build an organizational
structure manually, in a scenario where the company has few employees. In this
method, you can view the organizational structure without having to navigate much to
different screens.

This method can be accessed via SAP Easy Access by navigating to SAP

Menu | Human Resources | Organizational Management | Expert Mode | Simple
Maintenance | PPOC_OLD – Create. This is shown in the following screenshot:
Also, we can directly access this method via the PPOC_OLD T-code, which is shown in the
following screenshot:

Enter the required fields in the Create Organizational Unit window to create the Org
unit. We will be able to enter the Org unit's name, the abbreviation, as well as the long
text. In the Create Organizational Unit window, the users will have the following two
options:

 Overall view: In this view, the options and features cater to the users of SAP
Business Workflow
 Human Resources view: In this view, the options and features cater to the users
of HR

After this is done, click on the Create button in the top-left corner of the window, as
shown in the following screenshot:
After performing the preceding steps, SAP automatically assigns an 8-digit identifier that
is unique to the object. The letter O identifies the object as an organizational unit.

The positions are created by clicking on Staff assignments, as shown in the following
screenshot:

After this, click on Positions... and a screen pops up wherein the required fields and
validity periods are entered (it's recommend that you have them backdated). SAP
assigns a unique 8-digit identifier to each Position. The letter S identifies the object as a
Position. The following screenshot shows a demonstration of the preceding steps:

In the Create Positions window, we will enter the abbreviation and the long text that
identifies the Position, the S object. The following screenshot shows a demonstration of
the preceding steps:

After performing the preceding steps, the jobs are created by clicking on Create jobs;
they are then mapped to positions. We need to enter the abbreviation and its long text
and then click on the Save button. After clicking on the Create jobs button, the Create
Jobs window opens up, which is shown in the following screenshot:
We can map the Cost Center to the Org units or Positions by navigating
to Goto | Account Assignment and then clicking on the Master cost center… tab, as
shown in the following two screenshots:

After clicking on the Master cost center… tab, choose the appropriate Cost Center and

then click on the Save icon.
When we click on the Account Assignment tab, it will allow us to choose the relevant
Cost Center that needs to be mapped to that Org unit. This is demonstrated in the
following screenshot:

Creating a Cost Center

The Cost Center is an external object; it is created by a Finance (FI) consultant and
serves as an integration point between HCM-FI modules. The Cost Center is essentially
used for expense classification to know the breakup of costs according to General
Ledger (G/L).

Though Cost Center belongs to the FI module, it is useful to know the navigation path.

To access the Cost Center, navigate to SAP Easy Access | SAP
Menu | Accounting | Controlling | Cost center accounting | Master Data | Cost
Center | Individual Processing | KS01 - Create), as shown in the following
screenshot:
The following screenshot shows the Create Cost Center window that allows you to
enter the Cost Center name and the validity period:

Tip

The validity period is important when assigning it to an employee. The start date of the
Cost Distribution infotype 0027 must not be before the start date of the Cost Center, or
else, the system will throw an error.
The Expert Mode

The next interface that we will learn to use is PP01 - General. Using it, we can create
any of the object types such as O, S, C, and K. Using this method, we can maintain any
type of attribute to any of the organizational objects. If any organizational structure
needs to be built using uploaded programs, especially for large companies, the
uploaded programs can use the expert method of building an organizational structure.

The Expert Mode can be accessed by navigating to SAP Easy Access | SAP

Menu | Organizational Management | Expert Mode | PP01 - General, as shown in the
following screenshot:

Creating an organizational unit object in the Expert Mode

The object type and its relationships are created using the Expert Mode interface. This
interface is convenient to work with if we are familiar with the object types and the
relationships between them. It is normally used by functional consultants. The following
screenshot shows a demonstration of the process of object creation:
Select Object and click on the Create infotype button (or press F5). Give an object
abbreviation as well as an object name for the Org unit that we are creating. This is
demonstrated in the following screenshot:

Creating a position object in the Expert Mode

We will now try to understand how a Position object is created. Follow the steps

mentioned in the preceding section about creating an organizational unit. Instead of
selecting Organizational unit as Object Type, select Position. The demonstration is
shown in the following screenshot:
As shown in the following screenshot, enter all the fields just as it was done when
creating an organizational unit:

Creating a Job object in the Expert Mode

You can create a Job object in the same manner in which you created the Position
object. Follow the steps mentioned in the preceding two sections. Instead of
selecting Position as Object Type, select Job. The demonstration is shown in the
following screenshot:

In the Maintain object window, the different statuses that we will find are as follows:

 Active
 Planned
 Submitted
 Approved
 Rejected

The statuses are useful if we want an approval-type mechanism of workflow based on

different statuses. In general, all OM objects are created in the Active status.

When we click on Create object, the Create Object window allows you to enter the
object description and name, as shown in the following screenshot:
Tip

The object abbreviation is, by standard, 12 characters in length, and the object name is
40 characters in length. We can find the length of each field by pressing F1 from the
field and clicking on the technical information. Double click on table name in field data.

The concept of Number Ranges

It's important to know where the object IDs are actually generated from. Each object has
a unique number that's associated with it.

To check what number is assigned to the different subgroups, navigate

to SPRO | Personnel Management | Organizational Management | Basic
Settings | Maintain Number Ranges | Maintain Number Ranges. The following
screenshot shows the Change View "Number Assignment": Overview window:
We can also access the preceding window via the OONR T-code. After clicking on
the Number range maintenance tab in the preceding screenshot, the Range
Maintenance window appears, as shown in the following screenshot:
When we can click on the Intervals tab (the pencil icon depicts that we can change
intervals), shown in the preceding screenshot, the Interval Maintenance window opens
up, as shown in the following screenshot:

Scenarios where we use external number assignment

Let's say that the company has object keys (numbers) already defined in an existing
system and would like the same numbers to be brought over to SAP too.

Consider the number range is $$$$. The first two $$ represent the plan version and the
next two $$ represent the object type. For example, 01O refers to the number range for
organizational units. No changes may be needed in this table.

We can also access the Number Range Object Maintenance window via the SNRO T-

code. In the following screenshot, RP_PLAN is Number Ranges for Personnel Planning:

Click on the Ranges button in the following screenshot (or press F7). It leads to the

Range Maintenance window for Personnel Planning:
After performing the preceding step, the subgroup for Personnel Planning is displayed.
In the following screenshot, RP_Plan is the object that we choose for Organization
Management number ranges, 01 is the Plan version, and O denotes the object type:

The Plan Version

The Plan Version lets us simulate multiple versions in parallel. It allows us to manage

different scenarios in the OM. We can have a number of plan versions, but only one can
be active and current.

Plan versions can be configured by navigating to SPRO | Personnel

Management | Global Settings in Personnel Management | Plan Version
Management | Maintain Plan Version. The following screenshot shows the Change
View "Plan Versions": Overview window:
We have to set the plan version by mapping the plan version ID into the T77S0 table.

Plan versions can be activated by navigating to SPRO | Personnel

Management | Global Settings in Personnel Management | Plan Version
Management | Set active Plan Version. The following screenshot shows the Change
View "Set Active Plan Version": Overview window:

To activate the plan version, we use the PSO0 – Set Plan Version option, which can be
found by navigating to Organizational Management | Settings:

We can activate the Plan Version directly via the PCO0 T-code, as shown in the following
screenshot:
After performing the preceding step, a window will open up asking you to give the Plan
Version. After selecting your Plan Version, click on the Continue button, as shown in
the following screenshot:

Let's say we want to maintain the Plan Version. We can do this by accessing
the configurable tables via a particular node or directly via table maintenance. We have
to execute the SM30/SM31 T-code and then enter the table name, as shown in the
following screenshot:

Clicking on the Maintain button will take us to a configurable table, as shown in the

following screenshot:
We can also go directly to the node by clicking on Customizing. This is shown in the
following screenshot:

Once we click on the Customizing button, the following screen appears; click

on Continue w/o Specifying Project:
After clicking on Continue w/o Specifying Project, the IMG activities overview
window appears; click on Global Settings in Personnel Management:

After clicking on Global Settings in Personnel Management, click on the Continue

button, as shown in the following screenshot:

After clicking on the Continue button, we will see the Maintain Plan Versions node, as
shown in the following screenshot:
After clicking on the Maintain Plan Versions node, the Plan Versions screen
will appear, as shown in the following screenshot:

In the preceding screenshot, you'll find the Print icon; click on it or press Ctrl + P. The
following screenshot appears:

Creating an organizational structure using the Expert Mode

We will now see how the organizational structure is created via Expert Mode by

navigating to SAP Easy Access | Human Resources | Organizational
Management | Expert Mode | PO10 – Organizational Unit. The following screenshot
shows how this is done:
We can perform the preceding steps directly via the PO10 T-code.

It's known as "Expert Mode" simply because you must have a good understanding of
the object types and relationships to build the structure using this interface. The
following screenshot shows the status of the structure:

As seen in the preceding screenshot, we will see the status indicating that it starts the
application to build the organizational unit. The following screenshot shows how an
object is created:
To create positions, we navigate to SAP Easy Access | Human
Resources | Organizational Management | Expert Mode | PO13 - Positions. This is
demonstrated in the following screenshot:

We can perform the preceding steps directly via the PO13 T-code. The following
screenshot shows the Maintain Position window that appears after creating a Position:
To create an object, we can choose the object and click on the Create infotype (or
press F5) and the following window appears. Then, click on the Save:

To create Jobs, we navigate to SAP Easy Access | Human

Resources | Organizational Management | Expert Mode | PO03 - Jobs, as shown in
the following screenshot:
We can perform the preceding steps directly via the PO03 T-code. The following window
appears after creating an object:
Choose an object, click on the Create infotype button seen in the preceding screenshot,
then enter the required fields in the following Create Object window, and click on the
Save button:

Configuring the table

For the table configuration steps, the Data Browser screen needs to be used. Then,

enter the table name (for example, hrp1000), as seen in the following screenshot:

Once we enter the table name, the respective table comes up, as seen in the following
screenshot:
The relationship between objects is always two-sided such as A/B, where A is the
bottom-up approach and B is the top-down approach. The relationship with Cost Center
is always one side; it is represented by A011.

The relationship between object types is maintained in the HRP1001 table. This can be

seen in the following screenshot:

The permitted relationships are stored in the T777E table. The OOVK T-code gives us the

completed view of the Relationship between Objects. We can check using
the SM30 or SM31 T-code, as seen in the following screenshot:
Using the SM30 or SM31 T-code, the Allowed Relationships window appears as shown in
the following screenshot:

Integrating Organization Management with Personnel Administration

The dataflow between the Organizational Management and Personnel Administration

submodules is controlled via a system table.
Integration switches

A system table can be accessed via multiple ways, directly via SPRO, T-code, or via
table maintenance. We will explore all the methods in detail.

First, we will access a system table by navigating to SPRO | Personnel

Management | Organizational Management | Integration | Integration with
Personnel Administration | Set up Integration with Personnel Administration. The
navigation path is shown in the following screenshot:

Secondly, we will access the system table via the SM30/SM31 table maintenance T-code.
The following screenshot appears after executing the T-code:
Finally, we will access the system table via the OOPS T-code, as shown in the following
screenshot:

After executing the OOPS T-code, the HR Master Data Integration window in the following

screenshot appears:
In the preceding screenshot, X denotes that data transfer from OM and PA is active.
The changes made in the PA side of the world can be transferred to the OM side using
Data Transfer reports that we will see in the following section.

The PLOGI table actually holds the object types and object IDs that can be accessed via
the SE16 table, which is the Data Browser window:

In the Data Browser window, click on the Table Contents button. We can give the Plan
Version, Object Type, and click on the Execute button as shown in the following
screenshot:
The following screenshot shows the next window that shows the selected entries:

Data Transfer Tools

There are standard data transfer reports provided by SAP; these reports facilitate the
transfer of objects between the OM and PA submodules. They help the PA and OM
submodules to be in sync after they are executed. The reports can be accessed via
the SE38 or SA38 T-code, which opens the ABAP Editor window wherein you can enter
the Program T-code as shown in the following screenshot:
RHINTE Reports

The RHINTE00, RHINTE10, RHINTE20, and RHINTE30 tools facilitate data transfer from OM to

PA and vice versa.

Let's explore RHINTE00 with a scenario. Say, we have uploaded Master in

the Personnel Administration side, and we see the Org data in the 0001 infotype.
However, we don't find the Position and Person mapping in the OM side. In this case,
we will make use of RHINTE00, which opens the following window after it is executed.
After selecting the Personnel Number, the Report-Specific Settings window appears
as follows:

We will unflag the Test run and execute RHINTE00. Then, we will execute the SM37 T-code

to check the scheduled Job as shown in the following screenshot:
Once we process the Job, we will be able to execute the T-code. The Job will be listed
with the name of the Job and the user ID.

The purpose of the OM tool

The RHINTECHECK tool is a very useful tool to use to check inconsistencies

in integration. The missing object type and its relationship, if any, are highlighted, and it
allows the consultant to check the configuration settings.
All the reports have the standard documentation maintained to explain the report
purpose. We can see them by clicking on the Documentation checkbox and then on
the Display button.
Summary

In this chapter, we have covered all the interfaces provided by SAP to design and
develop the organizational structure. We have learned various T-codes and table
names to configure the OM submodule. We have also covered the data-transfer tools
provided that serve as an integration point between the OM and PA submodules.

In the next chapter, we will closely look at configuring the Personnel

Administration submodule and explore the standard functionalities provided by SAP.