Management device, management method, and management program

Abstract

To provide a management device, a management method, and a management program for achieving efficient group management for performing unified management, efficiently collecting information, and approving the collected information among organizations.SOLUTION: In a management device 2700, a control unit includes: a group setting unit that receives registration of groups of many related organizations in a company or an organization, receives designation of a parent group of the group, and generates a hierarchical code of the group according to the designation of the parent group by using a hierarchical code of the parent group; an account setting unit that receives registration of an account, receives designation of a group of the account and an account type, and receives designation of a role (a role of each account) according to the account type; and an approval authority setting unit that receives designation of approval authority according to the account type and the role.SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 27

Description

Technical Field

[0001] The present invention relates to a management device, a management method, and a management program.

Background Art

[0002] Patent Document 1 discloses a database management device. [Prior Art Document] [Patent Document]

[0003] [Patent Document 1] JP-A-2019-219847

Summary of the Invention

Means for Solving the Problems

[0004] A management device according to an aspect of the present invention includes a group setting unit that receives registration of a group, receives designation of a parent group of the group, and generates a hierarchical code of the group using the hierarchical code of the parent group in accordance with the designation of the parent group. An account setting unit that receives registration of an account, receives designation of a group and an account type of the account, and receives designation of a role in accordance with the account type. An approval authority setting unit that receives designation of an approval authority in accordance with the account type and the role.

[0005] In the management device, the approval authority setting unit receives designation of an approval authority for a child group designated with the group as a parent group.

[0006] In the management device, a site setting unit that receives registration of a site and receives designation of master information including the group for each site is further provided. The approval authority setting unit receives designation of an approval authority for a site associated with a child group designated with the group as a parent group.

[0007] The above-mentioned management device further includes an approval management unit that accepts designations for grouping multiple locations. The approval authority setting unit accepts designations for approval authority for the grouped multiple locations.

[0008] A management method according to one aspect of the present invention includes the steps of: accepting the registration of a group; accepting the designation of a parent group of the group; and generating a hierarchical code for the group using the hierarchical code of the parent group in accordance with the designation of the parent group. It also includes the steps of: accepting the registration of an account; accepting the designation of a group and account type for the account; accepting the designation of a role in accordance with the account type; and accepting the designation of approval authority in accordance with the account type and the role.

[0009] A management program according to one aspect of the present invention causes a computer to execute the above-described management method.

[0010] It should be noted that the above summary of the invention does not enumerate all of its features. Furthermore, subcombinations of these features may also constitute an invention. [Brief explanation of the drawing]

[0011] [Figure 1] This figure shows an example of the overall configuration of the management system according to the first embodiment. [Figure 2] This figure shows an example of a functional block of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 3] This figure shows an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 4] This figure shows an example of the hierarchical relationship of groups according to the first embodiment. [Figure 5] This figure shows an example of a group table according to the first embodiment. [Figure 6] This figure shows an example of the hierarchical relationship of groups according to the first embodiment. [Figure 7] This figure shows an example of a group table according to the first embodiment. [Figure 8] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 9] It is a diagram showing an example of the account table according to the first embodiment. [Figure 10] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 11] It is a diagram showing an example of the setting screen of the authority role according to the first embodiment. [Figure 12] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 13] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the first embodiment. [Figure 14] It is a diagram showing an example of the information confirmation screen according to the first embodiment. [Figure 15] It is a diagram showing an example of the overall configuration of the management system according to the second embodiment. [Figure 16] It is a diagram showing an example of the functional block of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 17] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 18] It is a diagram showing an example of the base table according to the second embodiment. [Figure 19] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 20] It is a diagram showing an example of the setting screen of the input person in charge according to the second embodiment. [Figure 21] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 22] It is a diagram showing an example of the setting screen of the information input according to the second embodiment. [Figure 23] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 24] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 25] It is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device according to the second embodiment. [Figure 26] It is a diagram showing an example of an information confirmation screen according to the second embodiment. [Figure 27] It is a diagram showing an example of a functional block of a management device according to the third embodiment. [Figure 28] It is a diagram showing an example of an operation flow of a management device according to the third embodiment. [Figure 29] It is a diagram showing an example of an account table according to the third embodiment. [Figure 30] It is a diagram showing an example of an operation flow of a management device according to the third embodiment.

Embodiments for Carrying Out the Invention

[0012] Hereinafter, the present invention will be described through embodiments of the invention. However, the following embodiments do not limit the invention according to the claims. Also, not all combinations of features described in the embodiments are essential for the solution means of the invention.

[0013] In recent years, enterprises, organizations, etc. have a need to perform unified management and efficient information collection in groups of many related organizations, etc., and further to implement approvals for the collected information among organizations, etc.

[0014] The management device 100 according to the first embodiment realizes efficient group management.

[0015] FIG. 1 shows an example of the overall configuration of a management system 10 according to the first embodiment. The management system 10 includes a management device 100 and a plurality of terminals 200. The management device 100 communicates with the terminals 200 via a network 50. The management device 100 may accept direct operations or may accept operations through the terminals 200. In the first embodiment, an example in which the management system 10 includes one management device 100 will be described. However, the management system 10 may include management devices 100, for example, for each different company. Data may be exchanged between a plurality of management devices 100.

[0016] Figure 2 shows an example of a functional block of the management device 100. The management device 100 may be composed of a computer as hardware. The computer may also execute the management method described in this specification by a management program. The management device 100 comprises a control unit 110, a communication unit 120, and a storage unit 130. The control unit 110 may be composed of a microprocessor such as a CPU or MPU, a microcontroller such as an MCU, etc. The communication unit 120 manages communication between each component within the management device 100. In addition, the communication unit 120 communicates with external computers such as terminals 200 via a network 50 such as the Internet. The storage unit 130 stores information processed by the control unit 110 and information received from each terminal 200. The storage unit 130 may be composed of a memory device, RAM, ROM, HDD, SSD, or other storage medium. The storage unit 130 may store various information as data in tables and store a database composed of associated tables.

[0017] The control unit 110 includes a group setting unit 112, an account setting unit 114, an authorization role unit 116, and a display control unit 118. The group setting unit 112 accepts group registrations and stores information about the group in the storage unit 130. The account setting unit 114 accepts account registrations and stores information about the account in the storage unit 130. The authorization role setting unit 116 accepts registrations of authorization items for roles and stores information about the role and authorization in the storage unit 130. The display control unit 118 displays each piece of information on an output device such as a display connected to the management device 100 or on an output device of an external computer such as a terminal 200 with which the management device 100 communicates.

[0018] Figure 3 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. The group setting unit 112 accepts group registration (S100), accepts the designation of the parent group of the group (S102), and generates a group hierarchy code using the hierarchy code of the parent group according to the designation of the parent group (S104).

[0019] The group setting unit 112 accepts group registration (S100). Group registration is performed, for example, by a group creation operation using terminal 200. Specifically, for example, the group setting unit 112 accepts group registration by creating a group name and assigning a group code through an operation using terminal 200. The group may be a company and internal groups within a company (headquarters, departments, etc.), or it may be various organizations, national or local governments, or any other organization.

[0020] Here, we will explain the relationship between groups and hierarchy with a concrete example, referring to Figure 4. Figure 4 is a diagram showing an example of a hierarchical relationship of groups according to the first embodiment. Figure 4 shows hierarchy numbers 401 indicating the hierarchy (hierarchies 1, 2, 3, and 4 are shown, but are not limited to these, and may include many more hierarchies such as hierarchy 5, 6, 7, 8, etc.) and group names 402 indicating the groups in each hierarchy (groups A, B, C, ..., J are shown, but are not limited to these, and may include many more groups such as group K, L, etc.). For example, the hierarchy may be the relationship between companies such as a holding company, headquarters, subsidiaries, sub-subsidiaries, affiliates, and overseas offices, or it may include groups within a company, or it may show the connection between any other organization.

[0021] The group with group name 402, shown under hierarchy number 401, is included in that hierarchy. In Figure 4, group A is in hierarchy 1, groups B and C are in hierarchy 2, groups D through H are in hierarchy 3, and groups I and J are in hierarchy 4. The lines in the figure indicate the hierarchy connections of the groups. For example, both group B and group C are connected to group A by lines, so both group B and group C (hierarchy 2) are linked to group A (hierarchy 1). In this case, group A is defined as the "parent group" of group B and group C. Similarly, groups D and E are connected to group B by lines, and groups F through H are connected to group C by lines, so groups D and E (hierarchy 3) are linked to group B (hierarchy 2), and groups F through H (hierarchy 3) are linked to group C (hierarchy 2). Therefore, group B is the parent group of group D and group E, and group C is the parent group of group F through group H.

[0022] Figure 5 shows an example of a group table 501 according to the first embodiment. Figure 5 shows the relationship between the groups and hierarchy shown in Figure 4 in a table format, indicating that information regarding the groups and hierarchy is stored in the storage unit 130 in table format. The display control unit 118 may also display part or all of the group table 501 shown in Figure 5 on the display device. The same applies to the following diagrams relating to tables, and their explanation will be omitted.

[0023] Group table 501 contains, but is not limited to, a group code, group name, parent group name, and hierarchy code. It may also contain other information such as creation date, deletion date, location, and detailed attributes. The group code is a code assigned to each group and constitutes a unique ID. In Figure 5, the codes 1, 2, 3...10 are assigned, but it is not limited to these, and any non-repeating code may be assigned. The group name represents the name of each group. In Figure 5, the same A, B, C...J as shown in Figure 4 are shown. The parent group represents the higher-level group associated with that group, as described in Figure 4. For example, in Figure 5, group A has no parent group, and therefore group A is at hierarchy level 1. Also, the parent group of group B is A, and the parent group of group C is also A, and therefore both group B and group C are at hierarchy level 2, associated with group A (hierarchy level 1).

[0024] The hierarchical code is a code assigned to each group, and it constitutes a unique ID while simultaneously representing the hierarchy. The group setting unit 112 generates the hierarchical code for a group by placing the group code of the group after the hierarchical code of the parent group of the group in question. However, for groups without a parent group (i.e., groups at hierarchical level 1), the hierarchical code is generated using the group code of the group in question. For example, in Figure 5, the hierarchical code for group A at hierarchical level 1 (no parent group) is " / 1 / ", using the group code "1" of group A. Similarly, the hierarchical code for group B at hierarchical level 2 (parent group is group A) is " / 1 / 2 / ", which is obtained by placing the group code "2" of group B after the hierarchical code " / 1 / " of the parent group. Likewise, the hierarchical code for group C at hierarchical level 2 (parent group is group A) is " / 1 / 3 / ", which is obtained by placing the group code "3" of group C after the hierarchical code " / 1 / " of the parent group. Furthermore, the hierarchy code for group D at hierarchy level 3 (whose parent group is group B) is " / 1 / 2 / 4 / ", which is obtained by placing the group code "4" of group D after the hierarchy code " / 1 / 2 / " of the parent group. In this way, by generating the hierarchy code of a group at a certain level by placing the group code of that group after the hierarchy code of its parent group, it is possible to generate an infinite number of hierarchies while maintaining the links between groups, provided that physical constraints are not a factor, and to represent the hierarchy of many groups in a unified manner.

[0025] Figure 6 is a diagram showing an example of the hierarchical relationship of groups according to the first embodiment, and shows the hierarchical relationship after changing the hierarchical relationship of groups shown in Figure 4. Similar to Figure 4, Figure 6 shows a hierarchy number 601 indicating the hierarchy (hierarchies 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 are shown, but are not limited to these, and may include many more hierarchies such as 6, 7, 8, 9, etc.) and a group name 602 indicating the group in each hierarchy (groups A, B, C, ..., J are shown, but are not limited to these, and may include many more groups such as K, L, etc.). The explanations similar to those in Figure 4 will be omitted below.

[0026] In Figure 6, the group at hierarchical level 1 has changed from group A in Figure 4 to group G. On the other hand, group A is at hierarchical level 3, and its parent group is shown to be group C at hierarchical level 2. For the other groups as well, the hierarchical level and parent group have changed.

[0027] Figure 7 shows an example of a group table 701 according to the first embodiment, and illustrates the hierarchical relationship after changing the hierarchical relationship of the group table 501 shown in Figure 5. Figure 7 also shows the relationship between groups and hierarchy shown in Figure 6 in a table format. For reference, Figure 7 shows the hierarchy codes included in the group table 501 of Figure 5 as "hierarchical codes before change". The same explanation as in Figure 5 will be omitted below.

[0028] Here, we will explain an example of how the group setting unit 112 operates to change the relationship between groups and hierarchies shown in Figures 4 and 5 to the relationship shown in Figures 6 and 7. First, group G, which was at hierarchical level 3 in Figures 4 and 5, becomes hierarchical level 1 by deselecting its parent group C (for example, by specifying no parent group). At this time, the group setting unit 112 deletes " / 1 / 3" which is placed before the group code "7" of group G in the hierarchical code " / 1 / 3 / 7 / " of group G, and updates the hierarchical code of group G to " / 7 / ". Although not shown in Figures 4 and 5, if there are lower-level groups associated with group G, the hierarchies of these lower-level groups may also each become two levels higher when the hierarchical level of group G moves up two levels from hierarchical level 3 to hierarchical level 1.

[0029] Furthermore, in Figures 4 and 5, Group A, which was at Level 1, becomes linked to Group C by designating Group C as its parent group, and thus becomes one level below Group C. In Figures 6 and 7, since Group C is at Level 2, Group A's level becomes Level 3. At this time, the group setting unit 112 accepts the designation of Group C as the parent group of Group A, and places Group A's level code " / 1 / " (in Figure 5) after Group C's level code " / 7 / 3 / " (in Figure 7), updating Group A's level code to " / 7 / 3 / 1 / " as shown in Figure 7. Note that for the sake of simplicity, the explanation above has assumed that there were no lower-level groups linked to Group A in Figures 4 and 5, but when Group A's level drops two levels from Level 1 to Level 3, the levels of these lower-level groups may also each drop two levels.

[0030] Similarly, the group setting unit 112 accepts the designation of a parent group (S102 in Figure 3), and generates a hierarchical code for the group using the hierarchical code of the parent group according to the designation (S104 in Figure 3), thereby easily changing the relationship between groups and hierarchies shown in Figures 4 and 5 to the relationship shown in Figures 6 and 7. This makes it possible to change and manage hierarchical relationships uniformly and easily, even when the relationships between groups in many groups are complex, simply by specifying the parent group of each group. In addition, although not shown in Figures 4 to 7, a hierarchical change flag and change date and time may be included in the group table or a separately configured hierarchical table regarding changes to the hierarchy. The group setting unit 112 may then specify the change flag at the time of the change and record the change date and time in the table for hierarchies that have been changed, such as additions, replacements, or deletions. This makes it possible to keep a history of past changes to the hierarchy.

[0031] Note that while Figures 4 to 7 show an example where there is one group in hierarchy level 1, this is not the only example; hierarchy level 1 may have multiple groups.

[0032] Figure 8 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. The account setting unit 114 accepts account registration (S200), accepts the specification of the account group and account type (S202), and accepts the specification of a role according to the account type (S204). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 9. Figure 9 shows an example of the account table 901 according to the first embodiment.

[0033] The account setting unit 114 accepts account registration (S200). Here, the account table 901 in Figure 9 contains account code, account type, group name, and role. The account setting unit 114 adds a new row to the account table 901 and performs the account registration process by accepting or generating the above information for that row. Note that the information contained in the account table is not limited to the above, and may contain other information such as account creation date, deletion date, name, email address, detailed affiliation, etc.

[0034] In the account table 901 shown in Figure 9, the account code is a code assigned to each account and constitutes a unique ID. In Figure 9, 0001, 0002, 0003...0012 are assigned, but this is not limited to these, and any unique code may be assigned. The account code may be entered by an arbitrary code through an operation on the terminal 200, but the account setting unit 114 may automatically assign a unique code during account registration. The code may be assigned by determining the smallest unused value from a predetermined number of digits, or it may be randomly generated using a function, and any duplicate values ​​may be removed.

[0035] The account setting unit 114 accepts the specification of the account group and account type (S202). For example, Figure 9 shows an example in which the account setting unit 114 accepts the specification of group C and individual permissions for account 0003. The specification of the group and account type may be performed by operation using terminal 200, or a specific account type may be automatically specified for a specific group, or a specific group may be automatically specified for a specific account type. For example, if the account type is specified as global administrative permission or global permission, the account setting unit 114 may automatically specify the group hierarchy of that account as hierarchy 1.

[0036] In the account table 901 in Figure 9, the account type represents the type of account, distinguishing the roles and permissions of each account. Figure 9 shows four account types: global administrator, global authority, individual authority, and data entry staff. The difference between global administrator and global authority may be, for example, that the former can add accounts and authority roles, while the latter cannot. Individual authority and data entry staff will be explained in detail using Figures 10 and 11, etc. The account types are not limited to these and may include any other account types, and the names are not limited to these as well; for example, they may be other names such as main administrator, main employee, subsidiary employee, or field staff.

[0037] Furthermore, in the account table 901 in Figure 9, the group name represents the name of the group associated with each account, for example, the name of the group to which each account belongs. The group information may be stored in group tables such as the group table 501 in Figure 5 and the group table 701 in Figure 7, and the account table 901 may refer to the group table using the group code of the group table as a foreign key (not shown in Figure 9). For example, in Figure 9, the account with account code 0003 is associated with group C, and the information of group C may be stored in the group table 501 in Figure 5 or the group table 701 in Figure 7, and the account table 901 may refer to the group table 501 in Figure 5 or the group table 701 in Figure 7 using the group code of group C (not shown in Figure 9) as a foreign key.

[0038] In the account table 901 in Figure 9, the group names for account codes 0001 and 0002 are blank. This means that accounts that do not require group management do not need to be associated with a group. For example, although account codes 0001 and 0002 actually belong to group A of hierarchy 1 in Figures 4 and 5, they are not associated with group A because their account type is either global management authority, allowing operations on all management devices 100, or global authority, allowing operations on all groups, thus not requiring management according to the group they belong to. In other embodiments, the association between the account table and the group table may be made mandatory. In that case, for example, in Figure 9, the group name A may be omitted because account codes 0001 and 0002 have account types of global management authority or global authority.

[0039] The account setting unit 114 accepts the specification of a role according to the account type (S204). Here, in the account table 901 in Figure 9, the role indicates the role of each account, and each account receives control according to its role. In the first embodiment, roles can be set according to the account type. Specifically, Figure 9 shows the case where role setting is possible when the account type is individual permission. This means that when the account type is individual permission, each account of that account type is individually granted permission, and this individual permission setting is performed according to the role. Conversely, in the example shown in Figure 9, when the account type is global management permission or global permission, each account of that account type has overall permission, so there is no need to set permissions individually. Also, in the example shown in Figure 9, when the account type is input person, each account of that account type is only responsible for input, so it is not subject to individual permission setting.

[0040] In account table 901, roles include "Include Subsidiaries," "Company Only," "Role 1," and "Role 2." "Include Subsidiaries" represents a role that also has authority over lower-level groups within the group to which the account belongs. "Company Only" represents a role that has authority only over the group to which the account belongs. "Role 1" and "Role 2" represent arbitrarily set roles, which are explained in detail in Figures 10 and 11. Note that in Figure 9, "Include Subsidiaries" and "Company Only" are pre-set roles, but their names and role details may be editable. Furthermore, the roles in the account table are not limited to those listed above, and other arbitrary roles may be included. Figure 9 shows an example where each account is assigned one role, but each account may be assigned multiple roles. However, constraints such as mutual exclusion or dependency conditions (for example, Role Y cannot be specified unless Role X is specified) may be imposed on multiple roles that can be specified, such as "Include Subsidiaries" and "Company Only" being mutually exclusive in Figure 9.

[0041] Figure 10 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. The authorization role setting unit 116 accepts the registration of authorization items for roles (S300) and accepts the specification of authorizations for each item for roles for each group (S302). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 11. Figure 11 shows an example of the authorization role setting screen according to the first embodiment. This setting screen has a field 1101 that shows the group name, a field 1102 that shows the authorization items for roles, and a field 1103 that shows the specification of authorizations for each item for roles for each group.

[0042] The authorization role setting unit 116 accepts the registration of authorization items for roles (S300). In Figure 11, field 1102 shows Role 1, Role 2, and Role 3. In Figure 11, for convenience, names such as Role 1, Role 2, etc. are used, but for example, the items that indicate authorization for specific information items may be the names of those information items (e.g., greenhouse gas emissions, activity level of activities involving greenhouse gas emissions, water usage). The authorization role setting unit 116 may accept requests for registration of authorization items for roles and setting of the names of those items through operations on terminal 200.

[0043] The authorization role setting unit 116 accepts the specification of permissions for each item's role for each group (S302). In Figure 11, fields 1101 show groups A, B, C...F, and for each group, field 1103 shows either "editable," "viewable," or "no permission," while field 1102 shows each item's role 1, role 2, and role 3. For example, the authorization role setting unit 116 accepts a specification from terminal 200 to set the permission for role 1 to "no permission" for group F, and sets the permission as shown in Figure 11. Then, as shown in Figure 9, if account 0009, which belongs to group F, is assigned role 1, account 0009 does not have permission to edit the item shown for role 1 when operating terminal 200, and therefore the item will not be displayed. The following will explain in detail with reference to Figure 12.

[0044] Figure 12 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. The display control unit 118 receives a display request from the terminal 200 (S400), determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal 200 (S402), and displays information about the group according to the permissions of that role (S404).

[0045] The display control unit 118 receives a display request from the terminal 200 (S400). The display request from the terminal 200 may be received simultaneously with the authentication of the account operating the terminal 200, or it may be received at any time after the authentication is completed. The display control unit 118 determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal 200 (S402). For example, if the account operating the terminal 200 is the account shown as account code 0004 in the account table 901 in Figure 9, the display control unit 118 determines that the role is "Company Only". The display control unit 118 displays information about the group according to the authority of the role (S404). For example, in the case of the "Company Only" role mentioned above, the account has the authority to handle only company information, so the display control unit 118 displays only information about group C associated with the account on the display unit of the terminal 200 operated by account code 0004.

[0046] Similarly, if, for example, the account operating the terminal 200 is the account shown as account code 0011 in the account table 901 in Figure 9, the display control unit 118 determines that the role is "Role 2". Since Role 2 has "editable" privileges for the Role 2 items as shown in Figure 11, the display control unit 118 displays the Role 2 items in an editable state on the display unit of the terminal 200 operated by account code 0011. In this way, the display control unit 118 determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal 200 that received the display request and displays group information according to the privileges of that role, thereby enabling flexible control over each account.

[0047] Figure 13 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. The display control unit 118 receives a display request from the terminal 200 (S500), determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal 200, and displays information about groups below that hierarchy on the display device of the terminal 200 (S502). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 14. Figure 14 shows an example of the information confirmation screen according to the first embodiment. The information confirmation screen has a field 1401 that accepts the specification of the group into which information is to be entered, a field 1402 that accepts the specification of whether or not to include lower hierarchies (subordinates) of the group, a field 1403 that accepts the specification of filtering when lower hierarchies of the group are to be included, and a field 1404 that displays the specified information.

[0048] The display control unit 118 receives a display request from terminal 200 (S500). The display request from terminal 200 may be received simultaneously with the authentication of the account operating terminal 200, or it may be received at any time after the authentication is completed. In particular, the display request from terminal 200 may be received at the time when an information input request is made from an account operating one terminal 200 to an account operating another terminal 200, and the information is input in response to that information input request.

[0049] The display control unit 118 determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal 200 and displays information about groups below that hierarchy on the display device of the terminal 200 (S502). The hierarchy determination may be performed by identifying the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal 200 using the group table 501 or group table 701 in Figure 5 or Figure 7 and the account table 901 in Figure 9. For example, if the account operating the terminal 200 is account code 0003 in the account table 901 in Figure 9, the group associated with that account is C, and by referring to the group table 501 in Figure 5, the hierarchy code for group C is " / 1 / 3 / ", so it is identified as hierarchy 2 as shown in Figure 4.

[0050] The display control unit 118 then displays information about the groups at the current hierarchy level and below on the display device of the terminal 200. For example, if hierarchy level 2 is determined from group C associated with the account code 0003, the display control unit 118 displays information about the groups at hierarchy level 2 and below on the display device of the terminal 200, as shown in Figures 4 and 5. For example, in Figure 14, field 1401 shows group C associated with the account code 0003. Here, the display control unit 118 may accept selections from any or more of the lower hierarchy groups F to J in addition to group C in field 1401. In this case, group A, which is a higher hierarchy level than group C, and other groups B to E that are not associated with group C are not displayed as selection candidates in field 1401.

[0051] Furthermore, the display control unit 118 may accept a specification to narrow down the target of information verification from the groups below the relevant hierarchy level, and display the information of the narrowed target. For example, in Figure 14, the display control unit 118 accepts a specification in field 1402 to include groups F to J (referred to as "subordinates" in Figure 14), which are lower hierarchies of group C, in order to narrow down the target of information verification. If "include subordinates" is specified in field 1402 (a check mark is displayed in Figure 14), the display control unit 118 may display the information of the target narrowed down to one or more of group C and its subordinate groups F to J in field 1404. If the information of the narrowed target concerns multiple groups, each piece of information may be displayed side by side, combined, etc. This makes it possible to display information about groups below the hierarchy level in a more flexible and easy-to-understand manner.

[0052] Next, the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment will be described. In addition to efficient group management, the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment realizes information management that allows information collectors to collect more information more accurately and information collectors to provide information more easily. Hereinafter, the same descriptions as in the first embodiment will be omitted in the second embodiment.

[0053] Figure 15 shows an example of the overall configuration of the management system 15 according to the second embodiment. The management system 15 comprises a management device 1500 and a plurality of terminals 200.

[0054] Figure 16 shows an example of the functional blocks of the management device 1500. The management device 1500 comprises a control unit 1510, a communication unit 120, and a storage unit 130. The control unit 1510 includes a group setting unit 112, an account setting unit 114, an authority role unit 116, a site setting unit 1512, an input management unit 1514, an input reception unit 1516, and a display control unit 118.

[0055] Figure 17 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. As described in the first embodiment, the group setting unit 112 accepts group registration, and the account setting unit 114 accepts account registration and accepts the specification of the group and account type of the account. The site setting unit 1512 accepts site registration (S600) and accepts the specification of master information including groups for each site (S602). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 18. Figure 18 is a diagram showing an example of the site table 1801 according to the second embodiment. The site table 1801 is stored in the storage unit 130 with group names and site names linked together.

[0056] The location setting unit 1512 accepts the registration of a location (S600). Location registration is performed, for example, by an operation to create a location using terminal 200. Specifically, for example, the location setting unit 1512 accepts the registration of a location by performing operations such as creating a location name and assigning a location code using terminal 200. A location may be a company or an internal group of a company (headquarters, department, etc.), or it may be various organizations, national or local government bodies, or any other organization, but it is different from the group. For example, if the group is a company, the location may be another company, a company facility, a factory, a branch office, an overseas subsidiary, or any other organization different from the group. Also, as shown in Figure 18, multiple locations may be linked to one group. For example, in Figure 18, two locations a1 and a2 are linked to group A.

[0057] The site setting unit 1512 accepts the specification of master information, including groups, for each site (S602). Although not shown in Figure 18, the site table 1801 may contain, in addition to the group name, a site code that identifies the site, a group code, an account code, an input person, basic information, survey information, power plan, power source information, gas plan, facility equipment information, business, equipment, facility classification, management items, activity level code, and other related master information. The site setting unit 1512 accepts the specification for each of the said master information for each site.

[0058] Figure 19 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. The account setting unit 114 displays candidate accounts from the group according to the account type (S700), and associates the selected account from the candidate accounts with the specified location as the person in charge of input (S702). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 20. Figure 20 is a diagram showing an example of the input person setting screen according to the second embodiment. The input person setting screen has a field 2001 that shows a list of locations to be added, a field 2002 that shows the person in charge of input to be associated with the list of locations to be added, a candidate list field 2003 that shows the candidate accounts to be associated, a specification field 2004 included in the candidate list field 2003 for narrowing down the candidate accounts, and a field 2005 included in the candidate list field 2003 that shows the candidate accounts narrowed down by the specification field 2004.

[0059] The account setting unit 114 displays candidate accounts from the group according to the account type (S700). For example, in the candidate list field 2003 in Figure 20, group C is specified in the specification field 2004. Here, the accounts belonging to group C are shown in the account table 901 in Figure 9. Then, there are five accounts belonging to group C, account codes 0003 to 0007. The account setting unit 114 determines that account codes 0005 to 0007, whose account type is specified as "Input Person," are candidate accounts from group C. Then, in field 2005, only account code 0007, which is not yet shown as an input person in field 2002, is shown as "C 0007". Although omitted in Figure 20, the specification field 2004 may display candidate accounts using other specification methods. For example, the specification field 2004 may accept specification using the account code, name, email address, or other items that identify the account in order to identify the candidate account.

[0060] The account setting unit 114 associates the selected account from the candidate accounts with the specified location as the data entry person (S702). For example, Figure 20 shows that the selected accounts 0005 and 0006 from the candidate accounts 0005 to 0007 are associated with location c2, which is designated as the destination location, as data entry people. The account setting unit 114 may limit the list of candidate locations to be added according to at least one of the hierarchy and account type of the account operating the terminal 200. Furthermore, the selection of a data entry person from the candidate accounts may be performed by dragging and dropping the candidate account shown in field 2005 into field 2002. According to the second embodiment, candidate accounts are displayed according to the account type from the group, and the selected account from the candidate accounts is associated with the specified location as the data entry person, so that data entry people can be easily associated and set with each location.

[0061] Figure 21 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. The input management unit 1514 displays common input information items for each location (S800) and accepts the specification of input information items for each location (S802). The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 21. Figure 22 is a diagram showing an example of the information input setting screen according to the second embodiment. This setting screen has a field 2201 indicating the group name to be set, a field 2202 indicating the location name to be set, a field 2203 indicating the year to be set, a field 2204 indicating whether the display period to be set is yearly or monthly, a field 2205 indicating various information classifications, and a field 2206 indicating a screen for setting each information input according to the content specified in fields 2201 to 2205. For example, in Figure 22, the target is specified as Group C's site c2, the year is 2023, the display period is the year, and the information classification is GHG (Greenhouse Gas) Scope 1 (Direct Emissions under the GHG Protocol). Accordingly, in field 2206, under the major category "Fuel Use," input information items for "Kerosene" and "Diesel" are set, and for each usage amount, the value for fiscal year 2023 in kl, the reason for the difference, comments, and attached documents are entered. Furthermore, as indicated by "(Additional)" at the bottom of the major category "Fuel Use," the input management unit 1514 can receive specifications for the addition of further input information items. Although not shown in Figure 22, a field indicating whether the settings in field 2206 are "inputting" or "completed" may be provided for each of the various information classifications shown in field 2205. This allows people other than the person responsible for input to easily check whether field 2206 for that information classification is still being input or has already been completed.

[0062] The input management unit 1514 displays common input information items for each location (S800). For example, in Figure 22, the input information items set for location c2 are shown in field 2206, and these input information items are displayed based on input information items common to other locations. Common input information items are stored as templates in the storage unit 130 and displayed for each location by the input management unit 1514. The input management unit 1514 then accepts the specification of input information items for each location (S802). For example, in Figure 22, the type of the input information item "diesel fuel" is "usage" and the unit is "kl", but the input management unit 1514 accepts an instruction from the terminal 200 to change the type to "emissions" and the unit to "tCO2e", and for location c2, the input reception unit 1516 may accept the information input with the changed type and unit. By displaying common input information items at each location, information can be collected uniformly from all locations. However, certain items can be customized by accepting the specification of input information items for each location, allowing for the collection of information available at each location. The acceptance of specification of input information items for each location by the input management unit 1514 may be permitted only to specific accounts, depending on at least one of the account type, role, and hierarchy. This allows control over input information items to be restricted to accounts with specific privileges, thereby maintaining consistency in information collection.

[0063] Figure 23 is a diagram showing an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. The input reception unit 1516 receives a display request from a terminal 200 operated by an input person at a branch (S900), displays the specified input information items for that branch (S902), receives input for each item of input information from the terminal 200, executes processing according to each specification, and saves the results according to the processing (S902). The information input screens shown in each operation are not shown, but each operation will be explained by referring to the parts of the setting screen in Figure 22 that are common with the information input screen. Note that the parts of the information input screen that are common with the setting screen in Figure 22 may change depending on the account type. For example, if the account type is global management authority or global authority, the setting screen and the information input screen in Figure 22 may be the same, and the input management unit 1514 may receive the specification of input information items while the input reception unit 1516 receives input for each input information item. Furthermore, if the account type is individual permission, the input management unit 1514 may similarly accept the specification of input information items within the scope of groups and locations corresponding to the role, while the input reception unit 1516 may accept input for each input information item. Also, if the account type is input person, the input reception unit 1516 may only accept input for pre-configured input information items, and only for the associated locations, without the input management unit 1514 accepting the specification of input information items. In this case, the information input screen will not display, for example, the "(Add)" specification item in the settings screen of Figure 22.

[0064] The input reception unit 1516 receives a display request from the terminal 200 operated by the input person at the branch office (S900). The display request from the terminal 200 may be received simultaneously with the authentication of the account operating the terminal 200, or it may be received at any time after the authentication is completed. In particular, the display request from the terminal 200 may be received when the input person enters information in response to the information input request, after an information input request has been made to the input person from the account that linked the input person to the branch office.

[0065] The input receiving unit 1516 displays the input information items specified for the location (S902). The operation of specifying input information items for a location has been explained with reference to Figures 21 and 22. The input receiving unit 1516 then displays the specified input information items. As mentioned above, the information input screen displayed here may also change in parts that are common with the settings screen in Figure 22, for example, depending on the account type.

[0066] The input reception unit 1516 receives input for each item of input information from the terminal 200, executes processing according to each specification, and saves the results according to the processing (S902). For example, for the input information item "CO2 (non-energy origin)" of the major item "6.5 Gas" in GHG Scope1 set on the settings screen in Figure 22, the input reception unit 1516 may receive input of the 2023 value "xyy" (originally entered as a number, but written as a string for the sake of explanation) for that item from the terminal 200 operated by the account linked to the input person at site c2. Then, the input reception unit 1516 executes processing according to each specification. For example, regarding "CO2 (non-energy source)," if the value entered for fiscal year 2023 exceeds a predetermined threshold or range from the value "xyx" for fiscal year 2022, the input management unit 1514 has received a specification that inputting the reason for the difference should be mandatory. If the value "xyy" for fiscal year 2023 exceeds the predetermined threshold or value from the value "xyx" for fiscal year 2022, the input reception unit 1516 may perform a display process indicating that inputting the reason for the difference is mandatory, in accordance with the above specification. The input reception unit 1516 also saves the result corresponding to this process. For example, in response to the display process indicating that inputting the reason for the difference is mandatory, the input reception unit 1516 may display an error in the reason for the difference field if input has not been received and save the result in the storage unit 130. If input has been received in the reason for the difference field, the input reception unit 1516 may save the value "xyy" for fiscal year 2023 and the reason for the difference in the storage unit 130. This makes it possible to collect more detailed and accurate information from the person in charge of input.

[0067] Figure 24 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. The display control unit 118 receives a display request from the terminal 200 (S1000), determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal (S1002), accepts the designation of a location according to the authority of the role, and displays input item information related to that location (S1004). The following explanation will omit any content that overlaps with what was explained using Figure 12 as an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment.

[0068] The display control unit 118 accepts the designation of a location according to the role's authority and displays input item information related to that location (S1004). For example, if the display control unit 118 receives a display request from the terminal 200 operated by the account with account code 0003 in the account table 901 in Figure 9, and determines from the account table 901 that the role associated with that account is "including subsidiaries", then the account has the authority to handle information of lower-level groups in addition to its own group. Therefore, the display control unit 118 accepts the designation of locations to be displayed from the locations associated with group C and its lower-level groups F to J, as shown in Figures 4 and 5, according to the role's authority. The display control unit 118 then displays the input information items related to the designated locations on the display device of the terminal 200 operated by the account. In this way, the display control unit 118 determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal 200 that received the display request, and executes the acceptance of the location specification and the display of input information items related to that location according to the authority of that role. This allows for flexible control over each account, and for example, it enables more appropriate information collection by allowing individuals with individual authority within their own group who are closer to the site than those with overall management authority for the parent group or those with overall authority to set the input information items for that location.

[0069] Figure 25 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 1500 according to the second embodiment. The display control unit 118 receives a display request from a terminal (S1100), determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal, and displays the location information for groups below that hierarchy (S1102). The following explanation will omit any content that overlaps with the explanation given using Figures 13 and 14 as an example of the operation flow of the management device 100 according to the first embodiment. Furthermore, each operation will be explained with reference to Figure 26. Figure 26 shows an example of the information confirmation screen according to the second embodiment. The information confirmation screen has a field 2601 that accepts the specification of the group into which the information is to be entered, a field 2602 that accepts the specification of whether or not to include lower levels (subordinates) of the group, a field 2603 that accepts the specification of how to narrow down the locations if lower levels of the group are to be included, a field 2604 that accepts the specification of the fiscal year, a field 2605 that indicates whether the display period is yearly or monthly, a field 2606 that indicates various information classifications, and a field 2607 that displays the confirmation screen for each piece of information according to the content specified in fields 2601 to 2606.

[0070] The display control unit 118 determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal 200 that received the display request, and displays information about locations related to the groups at or below that hierarchy (S1102). Here, "information about locations related to the groups at or below that hierarchy" means, for example, if the terminal 200 operated by the account with account code 0003 is determined to be group C, hierarchy 2, the display control unit 118 displays information about locations c1 to c3, f1 and f2 associated with groups F to J at or below hierarchy 2 of group C on the display device of the terminal 200, as shown in Figures 4, 5 and 18. For example, in Figure 26, field 2601 shows group C associated with account code 0003. Here, the display control unit 118 may accept designations from any or more of the lower-level groups F to J in addition to group C in field 2601. Furthermore, Figure 26 shows that the display control unit 118 has specified "Include subordinates" in field 2602 to include groups F to J (referred to as "subordinates" in Figure 26), which are lower hierarchies of group C, and has performed a filter in field 2603, "Narrow down locations," to select "c1, c3, f1" from the locations associated with group C and its subordinate groups F to J. The information shown in field 2607 is displayed by summing the values ​​entered for the locations c1, c3, and f1. This makes it possible to display information about locations associated with lower hierarchical groups in a more flexible and easy-to-understand manner.

[0071] Next, a management device according to the third embodiment will be described. In addition to efficient group management and more accurate and easier information collection, the management device according to the third embodiment realizes an approval function between groups for the collected information. Hereinafter, descriptions similar to those of the first or second embodiment will be omitted in the third embodiment.

[0072] The management device according to the third embodiment is implemented as the management device 100 in the management system 10 according to the first embodiment in Figure 1, or as the management device 1500 in the management system 15 according to the second embodiment in Figure 15.

[0073] Figure 27 shows an example of the functional blocks of a management device 2700, which is a management device according to the third embodiment. The management device 2700 comprises a control unit 2710, a communication unit 120, and a storage unit 130. The control unit 2710 includes a group setting unit 112, an account setting unit 114, an authority role unit 116, a site setting unit 1512, an input management unit 1514, an input reception unit 1516, a display control unit 118, an approval authority setting unit 2712, an approval management unit 2714, and an approval processing unit 2716.

[0074] The approval authority setting unit 2712 accepts the specification of approval authority according to the account type and role. The approval authority setting unit 2712 also accepts the specification of approval authority for child groups that have a group designated as the parent group. Furthermore, the approval authority setting unit 2712 accepts the specification of approval authority for locations associated with the child groups that have the aforementioned group designated as the parent group. These operations are described in detail in the explanations of Figures 28 and 29 below.

[0075] Approval Management Unit 2714 may accept settings for operational management related to approvals. Approval Management Unit 2714 may accept settings for the approval period. For example, the approval period may be set by fiscal year, and the start and end dates of the approval period may be set using year-month or year-month-day.

[0076] Furthermore, the approval management unit 2714 may accept the setting of input items subject to approval. Input items may be set for all groups and locations subject to approval, or for some groups and locations. Also, input items may be set uniformly for the group and location, or different input items may be set for some groups and locations. After accepting the setting of input items, the approval management unit 2714 may accept a specification to make the input items public, private, or delete them. If the approval management unit 2714 accepts a specification to make the input items public, it may control the display on the display unit of the terminal 200 via the display control unit 118 so that users of the terminal 200 who have an account code associated with the group and location subject to approval can input and confirm the input items. This allows users of the group and location to input and confirm the input items. Furthermore, the approval management unit 2714 may record the date on which the specification to make the input items public was accepted as the location input start date and display it on the display unit of the terminal 200 via the display control unit 118.

[0077] Furthermore, the approval management unit 2714 may accept requests to keep input fields private. In this case, it may control the system so that input and verification of the input fields are impossible on the terminals 200 of users who have account codes associated with the groups and locations subject to approval. This allows for temporary suspension of input and verification for all groups and locations if modifications to previously published input fields become necessary. Additionally, the approval management unit 2714 may accept requests to delete input fields. This allows for the deletion of unnecessary input fields, thereby preventing them from being subject to approval.

[0078] Furthermore, the approval management unit 2714 may accept the setting of an approval flow. The approval flow may be set for all groups and locations subject to approval, or for some groups and locations. Also, the approval flow may be set uniformly for the groups and locations, or different approval flows may be set for some groups and locations. The approval management unit 2714 may accept the designation to finalize the approval flow. The approval management unit 2714 may record the date on which the designation to finalize the approval flow was received as the approval start date and display it on the display unit of the terminal 200 via the display control unit 118. After receiving the designation to finalize the approval flow, the approval management unit 2714 may control the group and location subject to approval to prevent input, modification, etc. of input items, or it may process a notification that the approval has started so that the group and location subject to approval does not input, modify, etc.

[0079] The approval management unit 2714 may accept the designation of grouping multiple locations. Such grouping may be set as, for example, an "input pattern". Here, the approval management unit 2714 may accept information such as the name of the input pattern (for example, a name representing domestic locations, overseas locations, or other specific groups of locations), a description of the input pattern, the target locations (for example, locations selected from the locations displayed for each group as belonging to the input pattern), and the input pattern for each location during the previous approval period. This information may be displayed on the display unit of the terminal 200 operated by the user via the display control unit 118.

[0080] The input patterns set by the approval management unit 2714 may include a default input pattern that applies to all locations. This saves the user the trouble of setting an input pattern for all locations. The approval management unit 2714 may also accept a request to set a specific input pattern for all locations selected from the displayed list.

[0081] In the grouping of multiple locations (e.g., input patterns) received by the approval management unit 2714, the approval authority setting unit 2712 may accept the designation of approval authority for the grouped multiple locations. This allows for efficient designation of approval authority for information of similar data types at locations that share a common input pattern.

[0082] Although the above describes a configuration in which the approval management unit 2714 accepts grouping specifications for multiple locations, the approval management unit 2714 may accept grouping specifications for multiple groups and locations. In this case, for example, grouping can be set and approval authority based on such grouping can be specified even for groups that do not include locations (especially input locations).

[0083] The approval processing unit 2716 receives approval requests from accounts with approval authority for the specified information, asking whether to approve or reject the request. If the approval processing unit 2716 receives approval from the account, it processes the request as if it has received approval from the next approver, i.e., an account that has further approval authority for the information approved by the current account. If there is no next approver, i.e., approval is received from the highest-level approver in the hierarchy, the approval processing unit 2716 completes the approval process. If the approval processing unit 2716 receives a rejection request, it notifies the account that submitted the approval request that it will need to be reviewed again and processes the request to allow review or input. If the account that received the rejection request is not the input person, it processes the request to allow review again after the rejection. If the account that received the rejection request is the input person, it processes the request to allow input again after the rejection. These operations are described in detail in the explanation of Figure 30 below.

[0084] Figure 28 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 2700. The account setting unit 114 accepts account registration (S2800), accepts the specification of the account group and account type (S2802), and accepts the specification of a role according to the account type (S2804). The approval authority setting unit 2712 accepts the specification of approval authority according to the specified account type and role (S2806).

[0085] The following describes each operation with reference to Figure 29. Figure 29 is a diagram showing an example of the account table 2901 according to the third embodiment. Note that descriptions similar to those described for Figures 8 and 9 will be omitted.

[0086] The account setting unit 114 accepts account registration (S2800). Here, the account table 2901 in Figure 29 contains account code, account type, group name, role, and approval authority.

[0087] The account setting unit 114 accepts the specification of the account group and account type (S2802). The account setting unit 114 also accepts the specification of a role according to the account type (S2804).

[0088] The approval authority setting unit 2712 accepts the specification of approval authority according to the specified account type and role (S2806). Here, in the account table 2901 of Figure 29, for account codes 0001 or 0002, whose account type is "Global Management Authority" or "Global Authority", the approval authority is specified as "Global". The "Global" approval authority includes the authority to approve approval requests from groups at all levels. For example, the "Global" approval authority may include the authority to perform the final approval after approvals have been made at all lower levels, or it may include the authority to approve approval requests at all lower levels at any time. The approval target may be specific information, such as by data type. In addition to the authority to perform approvals, the "Global" approval authority also includes the authority to revoke approval and return information that has already been approved.

[0089] For account codes 0001 or 0002, whose account type is "Global Administrative Authority" or "Global Permissions," the designation of approval authority as "Global" may be automatically applied when the account type is designated as "Global Administrative Authority" or "Global Permissions." In this case, the user can specify approval authority simply by specifying the account type, making it easier to set approval authority. Alternatively, the above designation may be applied by allowing the user to select "Global" approval authority through an operation on terminal 200 for accounts with account type "Global Administrative Authority" or "Global Permissions." In this case, the user can select "Global" approval authority for only any of the accounts with account type "Global Administrative Authority" or "Global Permissions," allowing for more flexible setting of approval authority.

[0090] Furthermore, the approval authority setting unit 2712 may accept the specification of approval authority for child groups designated as parent groups. In the account table 2901 of Figure 29, account codes 0003 or 0008, whose account type is "individual authority" and role is "includes subsidiaries," are specified as having "yes" or "no" approval authority. Having "yes" approval authority includes the authority to approve approval requests from groups in lower levels of the hierarchy. The approval target may be specific information, such as by data type. Furthermore, the approval authority setting unit 2712 may accept the specification of approval authority for locations linked to child groups designated as parent groups. In the account table 2901 of Figure 29, by specifying "yes" approval authority for account code 0003, whose account type is "individual authority" and role is "includes subsidiaries," approval authority may be set for locations to which users with account codes 0005 to 0007, whose account type is "data entry personnel," belong. Approval authority may apply to all input sites "under" the group of users who possess the approval authority, or it may be selectively set by terminal 200 for some of the groups or sites belonging to that group. Furthermore, "having" approval authority may include not only the authority to approve but also the authority to revoke approval and return information that has already been approved. In this case, if modifications are needed after approval, users of accounts with "having" approval authority under "individual authority" can make modifications after approval by operating terminal 200. On the other hand, "having" approval authority does not necessarily include the authority to revoke approval and return information that has already been approved. In this case, users of accounts with "having" approval authority under "individual authority" cannot make modifications after approval by operating terminal 200, and modifications after approval can only be made by users of accounts with "global management authority" or "global authority" where approval authority is "overall" by operating terminal 200, thus controlling the approval process and promoting more careful approval work. "Not having" approval authority indicates that no approval authority is set for that account.

[0091] For account codes 0003 or 0008, where the account type is "Individual Permission" and the role is "Includes Subsidiaries," the setting of approval authority ("Yes" or "No") may be automatically determined according to predetermined conditions. For example, in a group, approval authority may be set to "Yes" for the smallest account code, or any number of account codes from the smallest account code, where the account type is "Individual Permission" and the role is "Includes Subsidiaries," and to "No" for the other account codes. In this case, users can specify approval authority simply by specifying the account type and role, making it easier to set approval authority. Alternatively, the above setting may be specified by accepting a selection of approval authority ("Yes" or "No") from a user of an account code with the account type "Global Administration Permission" or "Global Permission," or "Individual Permission" for the relevant group, through operation on terminal 200. In this case, users can set approval authority for any person in the relevant group, allowing for more flexible setting of approval authority.

[0092] Furthermore, although not shown in the account table 2901 of Figure 29, an account type may be set for users whose account type does not belong to any of the hierarchical groups, such as "External". In this "External" account type, a role such as "Third-Party Assurance" or "Audit" may be set to grant permissions to this "External" account type. Here, for example, the display control unit 118 may control the display on a terminal 200 operated by a user with an account code that has the "Third-Party Assurance" or "Audit" role set, so that only approved information can be viewed. In addition, the control unit 2710 may process the output of audit information in a data format such as CSV in a batch based on the user's operation of the terminal 200. Furthermore, the control unit 2710 may process the output of all approved information in a batch after the audit based on the user's operation of the terminal 200.

[0093] Figure 30 shows an example of the operation flow of the management device 2700 according to the third embodiment. The approval processing unit 2716 receives an approval request (S3000). Here, the approval request may be executed on a terminal 200 operated by a user who has an account code associated with a group one level below the group for which approval authority has been set by the approval authority setting unit 2712. For example, the approval request may be executed by the user confirming the information displayed in field 1404 or field 2607 on the information confirmation screen shown in Figure 14 or Figure 26, and submitting it to the approver of the group one level above. This process may be performed, for example, by changing the "Status" from "Under Review" to "Submitted" on the information confirmation screen (not shown). Alternatively, the approval request may be executed by the input person entering the information on the information input screen shown in Figure 22 and submitting it to the administrator of the group (for example, a user with an account code whose account type is "Individual Authority", "Global Management Authority", or "Global Authority"). This process may be carried out, for example, by changing the "Status" from "Inputting" to "Submitted" on the information input screen (not shown). The approval processing unit 2716 may also accept information to be carried over to the approval application along with the above information. The approval processing unit 2716 may also accept information on comments that were received simultaneously or in advance with the approval application along with the above information. The approval processing unit 2716 may, at the same time as receiving the approval application, notify the approver of the approval application via email or other means of communication. This notification may be executed immediately, or it may be executed in batch processing at arbitrary time intervals of 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, or other. In addition to accepting the approval application, the approval processing unit 2716 may also accept notifications prompting input, such as input request notifications and reminder notifications.

[0094] The approval processing unit 2716 displays the information to be approved (S3002). That is, after receiving the approval request in S3000, the approval processing unit 2716 displays the information to be approved via the display control unit 118 on the display unit (not shown) of the terminal 200 operated by a user who has an account code authorized to approve the approval request. The information to be approved is the information displayed in field 1404 or field 2607 on the information confirmation screen shown in Figure 14 or Figure 26, or the information entered by the person in charge of input on the information input screen shown in Figure 22, which was displayed on the display unit (not shown) of the terminal 200 operated by the user who made the approval request when the approval request was completed. In addition, the approval processing unit 2716 may accept filtering conditions for the information to be approved and display only the information that satisfies those conditions on the display unit of the terminal 200 operated by the user via the display control unit 118.

[0095] The approval processing unit 2716 accepts a designation for approval or rejection (S3004). That is, after displaying the information to be approved in S3002, the approval processing unit 2716 accepts a designation from a terminal 200 operated by a user with an account code authorized to approve the approval request, indicating whether to approve the information to be approved or reject the approval request. The approval processing unit 2716 may accept a designation for approval or rejection for all information to be approved at once. Alternatively, the approval processing unit 2716 may accept a designation for approval or rejection for specific pieces of information to be approved. For example, the approval processing unit 2716 may accept a designation for approval or rejection for each type of data to be approved. In this case, the operation flow described below may be performed for each piece of information to be approved. In this case, the approval processing unit 2716 may display, for each piece of information subject to approval, the type or classification of the information, the number of locations where input has been made, the status indicating the approval status (e.g., under review, confirmed, approved, and returned), and a completion comment on the display unit 200 operated by the user via the display control unit 118. If there are many locations where input has been made, the display control unit 118 may display the ratio of the number of locations where input has been made to the total number of locations in a graph such as a bar graph or pie chart so that the current status can be easily understood. Furthermore, the approval processing unit 2716 may display the type or classification of the information for each group and location, and display various information such as the status and completion comments. The approval processing unit 2716 may also record information such as the date and time of each approval and the person who made the approval as history in the storage unit 130 or other storage device. The display control unit 118 may display this history on the display unit 200 as a list of a series of approvals for the same piece of information subject to approval.

[0096] If the approval processing unit 2716 receives approval in S3004 ("Approval" in Figure 30), it determines whether there is another approver (S3006). Specifically, the approval processing unit 2716 determines whether there is an account code with approval authority set in a group one level higher than the group associated with the account code of the user who selected approval, or an account code with approval authority set as "General". If such an account code exists ("Yes" in Figure 30), it executes the process of accepting the approval request in S3000, as if an approval request had been made for that account code. On the other hand, if such an account code does not exist ("No" in Figure 30), it completes the approval process (S3008). Specifically, it executes the process of considering all information entered and confirmed during the period set as the approval target period as approved. In this case, the approval processing unit 2716 may not accept any modifications, additions, or deletions to the approved information. This makes it possible to systematically prove that the information after approval has not been subsequently modified, added to, or deleted in third-party assurance or audits. Furthermore, once the above approval process is completed, the approval processing unit 2716 may accept further requests for post-approval modifications (not shown). This allows the system to systematically prove that the approved information has not been subsequently modified, added to, or deleted unless a special procedure is followed, while also allowing the system to identify information that has been subsequently modified, added to, or deleted through such a special procedure.

[0097] If the approval processing unit 2716 receives a rejection in S3004 (referred to as "rejected" in Figure 30), it executes the rejection process (S3010). That is, the approval processing unit 2716 displays "Rejected" as the "Status" for the information that has been rejected on the display unit of the terminal 200 of the user who selected the rejection, while simultaneously displaying "Rejected" as the result of the approval request on the display unit of the terminal 200 of the user who submitted the approval request, and at the same time, it resumes processing to confirm or accept input regarding the information (not shown). In addition, the approval processing unit 2716 may accept rejection designations from "subordinate" groups and the locations belonging to those groups all at once, or it may accept selective designations only for the immediate subordinate groups or locations.

[0098] As described above, the management device according to the third embodiment can realize efficient group management and more accurate and easier information collection, as well as an approval function for the collected information between groups.

[0099] The present invention can also be realized in the following multiple other embodiments in addition to those described above.

[0100] In another embodiment, the management device 100, 1500, or 2700 may include a derivation unit. The derivation unit may derive greenhouse gas emissions by multiplying the usage amount of at least one of electricity, water, oil, and gas by conversion data stored in the storage unit 130. In this case, greenhouse gas emissions are derived by multiplying each usage amount by a unit factor (conversion data) that indicates the greenhouse gas emissions per unit of each usage amount. Furthermore, when deriving the amount of waste from the above usage amounts, the amount of waste may be derived by multiplying each usage amount by a unit factor (conversion data) that indicates the amount of waste per unit of each usage amount. In addition, the derivation unit may derive each quantity from each usage amount by using unit values ​​as conversion data, which represent the amount of substances such as by-products, NOx, SOx, BOD, and COD, the impact areas such as air pollution, air pollution, hazardous chemicals, ozone depletion, acidification, noise, global warming, photochemical oxidants, eutrophication, resource consumption, ecotoxicity, fuel consumption, and land use, as well as the human health, social impacts, biodiversity, and primary production targets based on damage assessments, and other protected entities.

[0101] The above usage amount may include fuel consumption due to the operation of the equipment. The fuel may include solid fuels (coking coal, general coal, anthracite, coke, petroleum coke, briquettes or charcoal, wood, charcoal, and other solid fuels), liquid fuels (coal tar, petroleum asphalt, condensate, crude oil (excluding condensate (NGL)), gasoline, naphtha, jet fuel oil, kerosene, light oil, heavy oil A, heavy oil B and C, lubricating oil, and other liquid fuels), and gaseous fuels (liquefied petroleum gas (LPG), petroleum hydrocarbon gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG), natural gas (excluding liquefied natural gas (LNG)), coke oven gas, blast furnace gas, converter gas, city gas, and other gaseous fuels). Furthermore, the activities carried out in the manufacture of the product related to the said usage amount may be activities that consume at least one of heat and steam.

[0102] In other embodiments, the display control unit 118 may control the display of information derived by the derivation unit using the converted data as "secondary data" and other input data as "primary data" (or, if each piece of information includes information on data quality and "primary data" or "secondary data" is identified as such information). Furthermore, the same converted data may be used for all locations in common input information items. This makes it possible to maintain optimal application of the converted data by adding or modifying the converted data in common input information items, even after requesting information input from each location.

[0103] Furthermore, the information managed by the control devices 100, 1500, or 2700 may include at least one of the following: greenhouse gas emissions related to production, human rights measures, and disaster risk measures. Human rights measures may indicate, for example, whether or not measures are taken to prevent child labor in the manufacturing of products (including not only the assembly of the product itself, but also the assembly of components that make up the product, the processing of materials (including raw materials, etc.) that make up each component, and all other processes related to the manufacturing of the product). Disaster risk measures may indicate whether or not measures are taken to prevent the manufacturing of products from being affected in the event of a disaster. In addition to the above, the data managed by the control devices 100, 1500, or 2700 may include any other information that the company wishes to request from its affiliated companies. For example, data may include various types of damage calculation-based environmental impact assessments, data on the environment such as product carbon footprints related to climate change, data on natural resources such as biodiversity, land use, and raw material procurement, data on waste treatment such as hazardous substances, waste management, packaging materials, and waste from home appliances, data on environmentally regulated substances such as contained chemical substances, air pollutants, water quality, and soil contamination, and other environmental data such as technology, energy, noise, vibration, and odor. Furthermore, data may include data on society such as human resources such as human rights (child labor, forced labor, working hours, wages, labor rights, discrimination, etc.), labor management and occupational health and safety, and human capital, data on product and service safety such as safety quality, safety of each substance, privacy, and data security, data on community relations, diversity, equity and inclusion, well-being and engagement, compliance and ethics, and other social data. Furthermore, data may include data on governance such as corporate ethics and legal compliance, anti-corruption, risk management and disaster countermeasures, tax transparency, and other governance data. Data on due diligence for each of the above items may also be included. The specification or input of input information items related to this information is shown in fields 2206 and 2607 in the category indicated as "Questionnaire" in field 2205 of Figure 22 and field 2606 of Figure 26, and each specification or input may be accepted.

[0104] In another embodiment, the management device 100, 1500, or 2700 may further include an administrator setting unit. The administrator setting unit accepts settings for whether or not to make each item editable based on the account type or role. For example, items of environmental information for each site that must be collected by a person with overall management authority can be set not to be editable (made uneditable) for any account type or role. This allows for flexibility by enabling individuals with individual authority closer to the field to independently add input information items they deem necessary in each category, and to edit items related to whether or not to input differences or comments, whether or not to attach documents, whether or not to set thresholds, and linking to conversion data such as specific unit costs. At the same time, information must be provided for information items that are essential for information collectors, as described above, enabling flexible and unified information collection.

[0105] In another embodiment, among the various information classifications shown in field 2205 of Figure 22, field 2206 in Scope 2 (indirect emissions related to electricity, heat, hot water, steam, cooling, and chilled water under the GHG protocol) may include activity amounts such as the amount of electricity, heat, hot water, steam, cooling, and chilled water used, the amount of money spent, and the amount of emissions, as well as the amount of electricity generated by private power generation / corporate PPAs, etc., surplus electricity, purchased electricity, sold electricity, and the amount of other energy sold to external parties. It may also include the amount of certificates and credits procured that are applicable to Scope 2. Furthermore, when power generation and supply occur between the managed groups, the group setting unit 112 may accept the registration of a dummy group for offsetting between groups. The power plan of the dummy group is then registered along with the emission intensity of the generating group, the group receiving the power supply is registered as a tenant, and the amount of supply for the tenant is set. As a result, the GHG emissions of the dummy group become negative, and power generation and supply between groups can be managed.

[0106] In another embodiment, the management device 100, 1500, or 2700 may include an estimation unit (not shown). In the above other embodiment, an example was shown in which the derivation unit performs calculation processing based on the converted data stored in the storage unit 130. On the other hand, the estimation unit may perform various estimations based on the said data. For example, the classifications shown as "water" and "waste" in field 2205 of Figure 22 and field 2606 of Figure 26 are set as input information items shown in fields 2206 and 2607, respectively, and the source data for various estimations is set. For example, in the classification of "water", the measurement type is set as an input information item, and options such as measured value, estimated value (calculated using reference value), and estimated value (discharge volume = intake volume) may be set as the measurement type. When the measurement type is specified as estimated value, the display control unit 118 may use the estimation unit to estimate various water-related quantities (water intake, wastewater discharge, etc.) by referring to reference values ​​based on various input information items required for estimation (for example, estimation from the entire building, estimation from other locations, estimation using other numbers of people, area, etc.). Similarly, for "waste," options such as measured value and estimated value (calculated using reference value) may be set as the measurement type. The input management unit 1514 accepts the specification of conversion data such as unit consumption, and reference indicators such as production quantity, number of producers, production volume, and production cost for each location as input information items, and the display control unit 118 may display the reference indicator or a combination of the reference indicator and each input information item (for example, water usage per unit of production). This makes it easy to display evaluation indicators between locations.

[0107] Furthermore, the estimation unit may perform interpolation, prediction, etc., of each piece of information by performing statistical processing such as regression analysis on the data stored in the memory unit 130. The estimation unit may also perform various estimations, classifications, and predictions by performing machine learning (deep learning, reinforcement learning, etc.) based on the data stored in the memory unit 130. The memory unit 130 may store a learning model, and this learning model may be a learning model generated by machine learning using each piece of data as training data. For predictions, for example, electricity demand predictions may be realized by a learning model generated based on information such as weather, temperature, power plant shutdown information, power supply reserve rate, interconnection line capacity, forward curves (including those related to electricity, coal, crude oil, and LNG), coal import prices, crude oil import prices, LNG import prices, and past fluctuations in electricity trading prices in the electricity spot market, or by statistical methods based on this information. Regarding classification, machine learning models or algorithms that solve classification problems may include, for example, logistic regression (including ridge regularization and lasso regularization), random forests, support vector machines, and neural networks (including multilayer perceptrons). The accuracy of these classification predictions may be evaluated using one or more of the following: the mean squared error of the estimated conditional probability, the AUC (Area Under the Curve) quantified as the area under the ROC (Receiver Operating Characteristic) curve, the log loss in the Kullback-Leibler divergence minimization problem, and a calibration plot plotting the observed and predicted values. Here, the accuracy of the classification prediction of a machine learning algorithm or model varies depending on the number of training data and the features (for example, the number of days for which power consumption data used for training is acquired and the attribute information added). Therefore, the selection of a learning model may be made by comparing the evaluation results of the classification accuracy of each machine learning algorithm or model under predetermined conditions. In addition, when selecting a learning model, priority may be given to those with low computational costs required for training and classification.As described above, the estimation unit enables the management device to predict, classify, and otherwise control the display, identify, derive, and issue response instructions for related data that is different from the data received by the communication unit.

[0108] In another embodiment, the display control unit 118 may perform aggregation for specific items across the entire hierarchy and control the display unit of the terminal 200 to display the results as a graph. The aggregation may be performed by accepting the specification of aggregation items, items to be displayed on the vertical axis, and items to be displayed on the horizontal axis for a specific aggregation target. For example, the specific aggregation target may be greenhouse gases, electricity, or other information. The aggregation items may include, for example, if the aggregation target is greenhouse gases, emissions (in addition to greenhouse gas emissions, subdivided emissions such as offset greenhouse gas emissions), the amount of related activities, the amount of activity, and other quantities. Here, the amount of activity may be controlled to be specified only when an emission intensity is specified for the items to be displayed on the vertical axis. This allows for a highly visible display of the relationship between emissions and activity using the emission intensity. The items to be displayed on the vertical axis may accept the specification of the information classification or its subdivided classification shown in field 2606 of Figure 26 as major, medium, and minor classifications, as well as the specification of comparison targets and base years. Furthermore, the items displayed on the horizontal axis may include the display period, in which case it may be set to a period of year, month, day, or any other arbitrary period. In addition, the above aggregation may be performed by accepting the specification of items to be displayed on a total of three or more axes in addition to the vertical and horizontal axes.

[0109] Furthermore, the display control unit 118 may control the display on the terminal 200 to display the entire hierarchy as a graph according to the filtering conditions received for a specific item. The filtering conditions may include, for example, groups, whether or not to include those under the group, companies, locations, businesses, organizations, facility classifications, greenhouse gas scope, and Scope 3 categories.

[0110] The display control unit 118 controls the display of the aggregated quantities as a graph on the display unit of the terminal 200. The display control unit 118 displays the graph according to the quantities of the aggregated items to which the above aggregation settings and, if applicable, the filtering conditions have been applied, the items specified on the vertical and horizontal axes, and, if applicable, the items specified on further axes. The display control unit 118 may also display a prompt near the graph for specifying major, medium, and minor categories. Here, if the display control unit 118 receives a specification for each of these categories, it may display the graph for all items in the category one level below the specified category. As a result, all items in the specified category are considered, making the graph highly visible with simple operation.

[0111] Although the present invention has been described above using embodiments, the technical scope of the present invention is not limited to the scope described in the above embodiments. It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications or improvements can be made to the above embodiments. It will be clear from the claims that such modified or improved forms may also be included in the technical scope of the present invention.

[0112] It should be noted that the execution order of operations, procedures, steps, and stages in the apparatus, systems, programs, and methods shown in the claims, specifications, and drawings is not explicitly stated as "before," "prior to," etc., and that these can be implemented in any order unless the output of a previous process is used in a later process. Even if the operation flow in the claims, specifications, and drawings is described using phrases such as "first," "next," etc. for convenience, it does not mean that it is essential to perform the operations in that order.

[0113] Furthermore, aspects of each embodiment can be embodied in whole or in part by a computer. For example, a program installed on such a computer may cause the computer to function as an operation associated with an apparatus according to an embodiment of the present invention, or as one or more "parts" of such apparatus. Alternatively, the program may cause the computer to execute such operation or one or more "parts." The program may cause the computer to execute a process or a stage of such process according to an embodiment of the present invention. Such a program may be executed by the CPU to cause the computer to execute a particular operation associated with some or all of the blocks in the flowcharts and block diagrams described herein.

[0114] In one aspect of the present invention, the following management devices, management methods, and management programs are realized. (Item 1) A management device comprising a group setting unit that accepts group registrations, accepts the designation of a parent group for the above group, and generates a hierarchical code for the above group using the hierarchical code of the above parent group according to the designation of the above parent group. (Item 2) The group setting unit described above generates the hierarchical code of the group described above by placing the group code of the group after the hierarchical code of the parent group of the group, as described in item 1. (Item 3) An account settings section that accepts account registration, accepts the specification of the above account group and account type, and accepts the specification of roles according to the above account type, The management device described in item 1 further comprises a permission role setting unit that accepts registration of permission items for the above roles and accepts the specification of permissions for each item for the above roles for each of the above groups. (Item 4) The management device described in item 3 further comprises a display control unit that receives a display request from a terminal, determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal, and displays group information according to the permissions of the role. (Item 5) The management device described in item 1, further comprising a display control unit that receives a display request from a terminal, determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal, and displays information about the groups below that hierarchy on the display device of the terminal. (Item 6) A management method comprising the steps of a group setting unit accepting group registration, accepting the designation of a parent group for the above group, and generating a hierarchical code for the above group using the hierarchical code of the above parent group according to the designation of the above parent group. (Item 7) A management program that causes the computer to perform the management methods described in item 6.

[0115] In other aspects of the present invention, the following management devices, management methods, and management programs are realized. (Item 1) The group settings section accepts group registrations, The account settings section accepts account registrations and accepts the specification of the above account group and account type, A management device comprising a location setting unit that accepts registration of locations and accepts the specification of master information including the above group for each location. (Item 2) The above account setting unit displays candidate accounts from the above group according to the above account type, and associates the selected account from the above candidate accounts with the specified location as the person responsible for input, as described in item 1. (Item 3) The management device described in item 1 further includes an input management unit that displays common input information items for each location and accepts the specification of input information items for each location. (Item 4) The management device described in item 3, further comprising an input receiving unit that receives display requests from a terminal operated by an input person at a site, displays the specified input information items for that site, receives input for each item of input information from the terminal, executes processing according to each specification, and saves the results according to said processing. (Item 5) The management device described in item 3 further comprises a display control unit that receives a display request from a terminal, determines the role associated with the account operating the terminal, accepts the designation of a location according to the permissions of the role, and displays input item information related to the location. (Item 6) The management device described in item 3 further comprises a display control unit that receives a display request from a terminal, determines the hierarchy from the group associated with the account operating the terminal, and displays location information for groups below that hierarchy. (Item 7) The group settings section accepts group registrations, The account settings section accepts account registration and accepts the specification of the above account group and account type, A management method comprising the steps of: a location setting unit accepting registration of locations and accepting the specification of master information including the above-mentioned group for each location. (Item 8) A management program that causes the computer to perform the management methods described in item 7.

[0116] In other aspects of the present invention, the following management devices, management methods, and management programs are realized. (Item 1) A group setting unit that accepts group registration, accepts the designation of the parent group of the above group, and generates a hierarchical code for the above group using the hierarchical code of the above parent group according to the designation of the above parent group, An account settings section that accepts account registration, accepts the specification of the above account group and account type, and accepts the specification of roles according to the above account type, A management device comprising an approval authority setting unit that accepts the specification of approval authority according to the above account type and above role. (Item 2) The management device according to claim 1, wherein the approval authority setting unit accepts the designation of approval authority for child groups designated as parent groups. (Item 3) The system further includes a location setting section that accepts registration of locations and accepts the specification of master information including the above groups for each location. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the approval authority setting unit accepts the designation of approval authority for a site associated with a child group designated as the parent group. (Item 4) Furthermore, an approval management department is provided to accept designations for grouping multiple locations. The management device according to claim 3, wherein the approval authority setting unit receives the designation of approval authority for the grouped multiple locations. (Item 5) The process includes: accepting group registration, accepting the designation of the parent group of the above group, and generating a hierarchical code for the above group using the hierarchical code of the above parent group, The process involves accepting account registration, accepting the specification of the above account group and account type, and accepting the specification of roles according to the above account type. A management method comprising a stage for accepting the designation of approval authority according to the above account type and above role. (Item 6) A management program for causing a computer to perform the management method described in claim 5. [Explanation of Symbols]

[0117] 10, 15 Management Systems 50 Networks 100, 1500, 2700 management devices 110, 1510, 2710 Control Unit 112 Group Setting Section 114 Account Settings Section 116 Permission Role Setting Section 118 Display Control Unit 120 Communications Department 130 Storage section 200 terminals 300 Transmitter 401, 601 hierarchy Groups 402 and 602 Group tables 501 and 701 Account tables 901 and 2901 1101 Group Name 1102 roll 1103 Authority 1401 Group 1402 Including subsidiaries 1403 Filter 1404 Fields that display information 1512 Base Establishment Department 1514 Input Management Department 1516 Input Reception Section 1801 Base Table List of locations to be added in 2001 2002 Data entry person 2003 Candidate List 2004 Specified Fields 2005 Field indicating candidate account 2201 Group 2202 locations 2203 fiscal year 2204 per year / month 2205 Fields indicating classification 2206 Fields indicating the input information items to be configured. Group 2601 2602 Including subsidiaries 2603 Narrowing down the locations 2604 year 2605 years / month 2606 Fields indicating classification 2607 Fields indicating input information items to be checked 2712 Approval Authority Setting Department 2714 Approval Management Department 2716 Approval Processing Unit

Claims

1. A terminal receives a group registration request including the group name, Determine the group code for the aforementioned group, The group name and the group code are associated and stored in the group table. The terminal accepts the designation of the parent group of the aforementioned group. A group setting unit generates a group hierarchical code by placing the group code of the group and a delimiter after the parent group's hierarchical code, The terminal receives a registration request for the account, including the specification of the account group and account type. An account code is assigned to the aforementioned account, The terminal accepts the designation of a role corresponding to the account type. An account setting unit stores the account code, account type, and role in association with each other in an account table. An approval authority setting unit receives the designation of approval authority according to the account type and role from the terminal, and stores information regarding the role and approval authority in a storage unit. A control device equipped with the following features.

2. The management device according to claim 1, wherein the approval authority setting unit receives from the terminal the designation of approval authority for child groups designated as parent groups of the group.

3. The site setting unit further includes a site setting unit that accepts registration of a site from the terminal and accepts the specification of master information including the group for each site, The management device according to claim 1, wherein the approval authority setting unit receives from the terminal the designation of approval authority for a site associated with a child group designated as the parent group.

4. The terminal further comprises an approval management unit that receives designations for grouping multiple locations, The management device according to claim 3, wherein the approval authority setting unit receives the designation of approval authority for the grouped multiple locations from the terminal.

5. A computer, The terminal accepts group registration requests that include the group name. Determine the group code for the aforementioned group, The group name and the group code are associated and stored in the group table. The terminal accepts the designation of the parent group of the aforementioned group. The step of generating a hierarchical code for the group by placing the group code and delimiter character after the hierarchical code of the parent group, The terminal receives a registration request for the account, including the specification of the account group and account type. An account code is assigned to the aforementioned account, The terminal accepts the designation of a role corresponding to the account type. The steps include: storing the account code, account type, and role in an account table in association with each other; The steps include receiving the designation of approval authority according to the account type and role from the terminal, and storing information regarding the role and approval authority in the storage unit. A management method that includes processing.

6. A management program for causing a computer to perform the management method described in claim 5.

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