Organizational object (object type key S) that is used to distribute tasks to different posts in an organizational plan as well as to map the reporting chain between posts. Positions are concrete and are occupied by holders (employees or R/3 users): purchasing administrator, secretary in the marketing department, or budgeting manager, for example.

You use positions to represent the individual posts in your organization. By mapping the assignment of these posts to organizational units, you can also show how the various tasks and functions are distributed in your organization.

In some organizations, the reporting chain can be represented by simply assigning positions to organizational units.

However, if the real-life reporting chain in your company is different (or is defined to a greater level of detail) than the reporting chain represented in the organizational structure, there are two ways of modeling this:

• If your positions can be organized into a one-dimensional hierarchical structure, use a reporting structure
• If your positions report on more than one dimension to several higher-level units, use a matrix organization

Matrix relationships can represent relationships between both functions and disciplines.

You link the positions is question by means of relationships, regardless of the organizational unit to which the positions belong.

You need positions in order to:

• Create staff assignments, i.e. the assignment of holders (employees or R/3 users) to positions and organizational units
• Define how tasks are distributed among the various posts in your organization
• Run reports (evaluations) along the reporting chain

You can use reports to map and document the reporting chain in your organization. The reporting chain that you create determines the evaluation paths that are possible.