The analytical application, Corporate Investment Management, supports group-wide, cross-system control and monitoring of the investment process from the planning stage through actual implementation.

The aim is, for the purposes of group-wide investment planning, to bring the strategic specifications at the group level and the operative requirements of the individual subsidiaries into agreement.

Corporate Investment Management, therefore, brings together local planning from different operative, transactional systems using Business Information Warehouse Technology (SAP BW), and makes the data available for central business analyses in an optimized form.

The pushback process ensures that strategic planning data that is created in SEM is transferred back to the different operative systems in the local currency.

During operative implementation in the investment process, Corporate Investment Management provides constant checks in the form of plan/actual comparisons. The information supplied by these comparisons provides the basis for continuous refinement of the investment process, from planning through implementation.

The distribution of the application to various systems signifies the decoupling of the overall process, and optimal scalability in relation to the group size.

Corporate Investment Management uses a data model that is especially optimized for strategic management accounting at the group level. The OLTP planning structures of the individual companies are seamlessly integrated in this data model.

The data model of Corporate Investment Management allows you to summarize the operative data for your individual companies and to define a group-wide structure for investment management. This supports and simplifies your management accounting tasks, and assists you in orienting your group investment volume to strategic considerations.

You can centrally plan your strategic investment volume at the level of strategic organizational units and on individual measures of strategic importance, while at the same time being able to view this planning side-by-side with your operative data.

The data model of Corporate Investment Management is based on the following concepts:

The functions of Corporate Investment Management described in this document are available starting from the release levels and support package levels listed above. In SAP R/3 the upgrade on these release levels simply involves importing the Plug In for BW.

Due to the limitations as stated on BW Release 2.1C, certain content objects have to be defined or modified manually. The objects involved are:

• Update rules
• InfoCubes
• InfoObjects
• Transfer and communication structures
• Planning Areas
• Planning functions

You can make these modifications, if you wish, as part of a customer project. This modification does not cause any problems with the implementation of Support Packages.

All necessary program objects already exist on BW Release 2.1 despite the limitations described. These program objects are the function modules used in the planning functions and update rules, customer enhancement AIBW0002, and transactions AIBW01 and AIBW02.

In order to use Corporate Investment Management, you need to ensure certain procedures in your organization regarding maintenance of master data for the objects in the OLTP that carry plan values. The requirements for the individual objects are described below.

You have to enter a value in the master data of appropriation requests to indicate the role they have in strategic planning:

• Strategic appropriation request (1) and
• Local appropriation request (2).

In SAP R/3 there is no separate field in the master data for entering this value. As a workaround, you can enter the values in the Priority field and extract them to BW. In BW the values are stored in the master data of the appropriation request in the 0IM_CORPOR attribute.

In the SAP Enterprise Release, there will be a separate field for this value in the SAP R/3 master data.

You have to enter a value in the master data of WBS elements to indicate the role they have in strategic planning:

• Strategic subproject (1)
• Local subproject (2)

In SAP R/3 there is no separate field in the master data for entering this value. As a workaround, you can enter the values in the Priority field and extract them to BW. In BW the values are stored in the master data of the WBS element in the 0IM_CORPOR attribute.

You only have to enter the value on the WBS element that is directly assigned to the investment program. The value then applies implicitly for all WBS elements subordinate to it.

• In your local systems, you create and plan appropriation requests (ARxx) and projects (PRxx), and assign them to an investment program.
• Using standard extractors, you load the transaction data to the local InfoCubes. Operative investment management for your subsidiary companies takes place via the local investment programs on these InfoCubes.
• For planning and management accounting at the group level, you load the operative data from the local InfoCubes per Data Mart into a new strategic InfoCube. The operative data here can originate from more than one regional BW System, but it is summarized in your group BW.
• The strategic InfoCube contains the strategic characteristics combinations that correspond to the strategic program positions to be processed at group level. Only appropriation requests and projects of strategic importance are transferred for individual display.
• In this InfoCube, you plan the investments on group level using SEM-BPS. When you plan, the operative data is available for reference and comparison.
• The strategic plan values are transferred from the group system back to the corresponding objects (strategic program positions, strategic appropriation requests and strategic projects) by the pushback.
• In your local systems, the plan values from the group system are changed manually, if necessary, and copied to the budget.

The graphic shows the technical names of the InfoCubes and planning areas involved in Corporate IM, along with their position in the data flow of the overall process:

• Data is loaded from the operational OLTP systems, using DataSources, to the local InfoCube 0IMFA_1. On this InfoCube, the individual companies carry out their investment management using their local investment programs.
• In InfoCube 0IMFA_C03, the data of the local InfoCubes is summarized for group controlling using Data Mart. The strategic characteristics are determined in the update rules, and non-strategic measures and appropriation requests are summarized.
• The planning functions of SEM-BPS have read access to this data by means of planning area 4IM0003. This makes it possible to define copy functions for transferring local planning to strategic planning and to comparison columns in planning layouts.
• InfoCube 0SEM_C05 is a transactional InfoCube that contains the plan data entered in SEM-BPS. Planning area 4IM0001 belonging to this InfoCube represents the interface to SEM-BPS. A matching planning function makes it possible to save the values, which were entered on the strategic characteristics combinations, under the correct program position in the InfoCube. The pushback planning function is used to distribute the strategic plan values, which were saved in the InfoCube, back to local planning in the different OLTP systems.
• You use multi-planning area 4IM0002 to manually enter values in strategic planning. Strategic planning is carried out on the strategic characteristics. The local data is available in strategic planning for copy functions and comparison columns.
• MultiCube 0IMFA_C02 makes it possible to compare operative data and strategic plan values in group Controlling. You can report both on the structure of a local investment program, as well as by using the strategic characteristics. If you choose to use the local investment program, you first have to match the values from strategic planning to it.
• For planning at the group level, you define a single group currency that is valid for all controlling areas. When you upload from local systems, values in the local currencies (object currency or controlling area currency) are automatically translated into the group currency. This takes places during the data update of BW InfoCube 0IMFA_1. During pushback, similar functions are available for translating from the group currency back into the local currencies.

You have to carry out group planning in SEM-BPS in one currency, the group currency (GC). For different controlling areas and objects, the group currency can be any one of the following: the controlling area currency, the object currency or neither of these. The consequence is that currency translation may be necessary.

The concept for currency translation into the group currency in Corporate Investment Management is based on the following principles:

• The group currency is stored as its own currency type (0CURTYPE = 30) in BW.
• The translation from a local currency to the group currency and vice versa takes place in the same way when data is uploaded from the OLTP and during the pushback. The currency translation always takes place in BW/SEM-BPS.

If all of the controlling areas involved in group planning use the same currency, then the currency translation is not needed. In this case, the currency type for the controlling area currency (0CURTYPE = 20) serves as the basis for group planning.

You define the group currency and the exchange rate type for the currency translation in Corporate Investment Management using customer enhancement AIBW0002

You assign the enhancement to an enhancement project and activate it using transaction CMOD. For more information on activating the enhancement and on additional parameters, refer to the online documentation for customer enhancements in transaction SMOD.

The key date for the currency translation is determined for each transferred record by the following sequence of InfoObjects:

1. 0FISCPER
2. 0FISCYEAR
3. 0APPR_YEAR

The system always uses the first calendar day of the period. If the DataSource does not contain one of these InfoObjects, or if the InfoObject does not contain a value, then the system uses the next InfoObject in the sequence. If the system still cannot determine a key date using this logic, it uses the current date for the translation.

The currency translation at upload takes place in the update rules for InfoCube 0IMFA_1. The corresponding update rules will not be shipped until BW Release 3.0A.

Currency type 30 for the group currency is updated only when enhancement AIBW0002 is activated. The system then reads the master data of the posted InfoObjects, in order to determine the object currency by means of the 0OBJ_CURR attribute. Therefore you have to load this master data before loading the transaction data. The DataSources for transaction data have to be loaded in such a way that the values in controlling area currency and object currency are selected.

Also during pushback, the system reads the master data of the InfoObjects involved to determine the object currency.

InfoObject 0IM_CORPOR is an attribute in the master data of program positions, appropriation requests, and WBS elements in BW. It determines the role of the objects in strategic planning.

Before Release 4.6C, there was no corresponding attribute in the SAP R/3 master data.

Starting in PI 2001.1, the master data extractors supply this characteristic using the values of the Priority characteristic.

You can also set the 0IM_CORPOR attribute using a different logic in update rules you define yourself for BW master data (refer also to Organizational Requirements in SAP R/3).

During pushback, the system matches the values of strategic characteristics entered in SEM-BPS to program positions. The result of this matching is always a strategic program position. After the matching, the pushback transfers the values to the strategic program positions in SAP R/3, and rolls them up on totals positions.

In the SAP Enterprise Release, the system ensures that you cannot enter values directly on totals positions in SAP R/3 planning. The distributable value of a totals position is therefore always zero. Any distributable values that were entered in other release levels from local planning on totals positions are not copied in the update rules of InfoCube 0IMFA_C03.

Local detail positions are displayed as totals in SEM planning on the strategic characteristics of their superior strategic program position. Pushback does not transfer any values to local detail positions. Local detail positions are planned in total in SEM-BPS by means of their superior strategic program position.

When InfoCube 0IMFA_C03 is updated, the 0APPR_REQU characteristic is set to its initial value for those appropriation requests that are designated as local based on 0IM_CORPOR. The values are summarized based on the 0APPR_REQU characteristic as a result.

It is still possible to distinguish the plan on local appropriation requests from plan on program positions, using InfoObject 0IM_OBJ in InfoCube 0IMFA_C03. This means that it is possible to display the plan of appropriation requests that are designated as local even after the summarization. You can display them in total under a program position, using the Plan on Appropriation Requests restricted key figure.

When InfoCube 0IMFA_C03 is updated via DataMart 80IMFA_1, the subprojects belonging to the program are summarized if they are designated as local. This is controlled by the 0IM_CORPOR attribute on the WBS element assigned to the investment program.

It is still possible to distinguish the plan on local WBS elements from plan on program positions using InfoObject 0IM_OBJ in InfoCube 0IMFA_C03. This means that it is possible to display the plan of WBS elements that are designated as local even after the summarization. You can display them in total under a program position, using the Plan on Measures restricted key figure.

You define strategic characteristics using settings in transaction AIBW01.

You can choose the strategic characteristics from the attributes of InfoObject 0PROG_POS. SAP supplies a content example in the standard system. This example is based on strategic characteristics 0CO_AREA, 0COMP_CODE and 0PLANT. However, you could also use other attributes of the program position as strategic characteristics (for example, 0BUS_AREA and 0COMPANY).

The settings made in transaction AIBW01 are assessed only by the pushback function and in the matching-planning function for program positions. However, you also have to define the following objects so that they are consistent with the strategic characteristics:

• InfoObjects in the Organizational Units dimension in InfoCubes 0SEM_C05, 0IMFA_C02 and 0IMFA_C03
• Update rules for InfoCube 0IMFA_C03
• Planning layouts in SEM-BPS
• Planning levels for the pushback function for program positions and for matching
• Master data of program positions in the OLTP systems

After all master data for InfoObject 0PROG_POS has been loaded into the BW System, you can use transaction AIBW02 to check if the assignment of strategic characteristics combinations to strategic program positions is unique. The assignment has to be unique in order for matching to function properly.

The following InfoCubes were created for CIM:

Planning area 4IM0003 makes it possible to access the data of InfoCube 0IMFA_C03 using the planning functions of multi-planning area 4IM0002. Access should be read only. The data can be used for comparison columns and copy functions.

Planning area 4IM0001 makes it possible to access the data of InfoCube 0SEM_C05. Access to this data can be read and write.

There is an example planning application defined on the planning area, for investment planning for a beverage factory in SEM-BPS.

In addition, the planning area contains planning levels for the matching and pushback functions of Corporate Investment Management. These planning levels are defined so they contain only the InfoObjects necessary for these planning functions.

The planning function determines the strategic program positions that correspond to the strategic characteristics combinations planned in SEM-BPS. It then writes them to the corresponding fields of InfoCube 0SEM_C05.

This planning function belongs to the "Exit" type.

For more detailed information on the planning function, refer to the online system documentation for function module UPB_CI_PUSHBACK_MATCH_IP.

The planning function transfers the values planned on the strategic characteristics combinations back to the strategic program positions in SAP R/3 Systems.

This planning function belongs to the "Exit" type.

For more detailed information on the planning function, refer to the online system documentation for function module UPB_CI_PUSHBACK_MATCH_IP.

The planning function transfers the values planned on appropriation requests back to the SAP R/3 Systems.

This planning function belongs to the "Exit" type.

For more detailed information on the planning function, refer to the online system documentation for function module UPB_CI_PUSHBACK_IQ.

The planning function transfers the values planned on WBS elements back to the SAP R/3 Systems.

This planning function belongs to the "Exit" type.

For more detailed information on the planning function, refer to the online system documentation for function module UPB_CI_PUSHBACK_PR.

Multi-planning area 4IM0002 consists of planning areas 4IM0001 and 4IM0003. You can define the planning functions for planning and simulation of capital investments at group level on this planning area.

The operative data from local planning is available on this planning area for copy functions and comparison columns.

The generic planning framework of SEM-BPS ensures a large degree of flexibility for defining planning and simulation functions and modifying them to reflect your own requirements and processes.

The content SAP provides represents only some of the basic functions for group planning, but you have many more options.

Using the copy function, you can transfer values from local planning to a new plan version for strategic planning as default values for manual planning.

When you use this function, the system copies the assignment of the values to the strategic characteristics, WBS elements and appropriation requests, but not to the local program positions. However, you can determine the correct strategic program positions using the matching function. The values of the local detail positions are contained directly in the values of the strategic program positions, once copying and matching have been performed.

In the layouts for manual planning, you can manually modify the strategic planning values. You can see the local planning values in the comparison columns. You can plan on strategic characteristics, appropriation requests and WBS elements.

Both bottom-up and top-down planning are possible.

In the case of bottom-up planning, each change to a plan value leads to a direct change for the same amount to the overall investment volume.

In the case of top-down planning, however, you can only distribute values and increase detail in the planning on lower level organizational units. (For example, you could distribute the plan values of a company code to the plants in that company code.)

You can modify layouts for manual planning by copying key characteristics to the header and defining multiple columns for the years to be planned. You thereby optimally fulfill your enterprise’s individual needs and those of your planners.

Using this planning function, you can delete a version of strategic planning if necessary.