Business Owner ("On Behalf of" Submission)
Written by Michelle Henley
Updated at January 19th, 2024
Table of Contents
Use Case
There are scenarios where a user may need to create a request on behalf of someone else. e.g. a user may want to disclose a conflict on behalf of someone or want to create an engagement request on behalf of someone. In such scenarios, it becomes important to identify the actual owner of the request. The Business Owner functionality allows a submitter to identify the individual on behalf of whom the request is being submitted. Business Owner can be the actual submitter of the request or the individual on behalf of whom they request is being submitted.
Question Text
A business owner question can be added to any request type to identify the business owner of the request. This question allows the submitter to submit a request on behalf of another person.
Similar to other questions, the text of the question can be changed to suit your organizational needs.
Related questions can also be added such as, the email of the Business Owner.
Response Box
By default, the application will pre-populate the name of the submitter as the business owner, which can be changed by the submitter.
The following configurations are possible;
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Free Form Text
- The submitter will remove their name and type in the name of the name of the actual business owner.
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Pre-populated list from HR data
- The submitter can search and select from the dropdown list of all employees in the system
- In order to populate the entire list of company employees for the submitter to choose from, your organization must utilize the HR data load functionality.
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Pre-populated list from Master Data
- The submitter can search and select from the dropdown list of users in Master Data → Individuals → Employee.
- If HR data load functionality is not utilized, users will be added to Master Data as they login to the application. With this approach submitters cannot select a business owner who has not logged into the application yet.
Business Owner Reviewer
If the business owner is different from the submitter, the submitter may want the business owner to review the request before it goes out for approval. If this is the case, customers can choose to add the business owner as a Reviewer in the approval workflow. Once configured, the Reviewer (business owner) is always triggered as the first approval step.
Note: If the response box is free form text, Business Owner Reviewer cannot be configured.
Things to Note
- Business owners can always be added to requests as an Editor Collaborator
- Since the Business Owner is not the submitter of the request, they do not receive the same email notifications as the actual submitter. If there is a case where the Business Owner should receive the same email notifications as the submitter, the Business Owner can be added to the request as an Editor Collaborator.
Expected Behavior
Business Owner
A Business Owner can be the submitter of the request or another person who is overseeing the submitter of the request. Below we describe how the system behaves in both scenarios when a business owner is added to a request.
The outlined behaviors are specifically designed to avoid any compliance issues related to changing the approver(s) who should be or will be triggered for a request.
Upon Initial Request Submission, the following rules apply:
- If the selected Business Owner is the same as the submitter the following approval groups will be triggered:
| Business Owner → | not triggered |
| Manager → | pre populated with the submitter's manger |
- If the selected Business Owner is different from the submitter the following approval groups will be triggered:
| Business Owner → | pre-populated with the selected Business Owner user |
| Manager → | pre-populated with the Business Owner's manager |
If the submitter initiates an update to a request that is already in progress, the system will only update conditional approver(s)s to the portion of the request that was updated.
For example, if the submitter only updates the activity, then the conditional approver will only be applied to the activity (if applicable) and not any recipient(s). In order to trigger conditional approvers on both the activity and recipient(s), the submitter must update and resubmit both.
If no approvers have taken action and the submitter initiates an update, the following rules apply:
- If the submitter initiates an update after the initial submission of the request and changes the Business Owner from another individual to themselves, upon resubmission the following approval groups will be triggered:
| Business Owner → | the previous business owner will be removed from the approval flow and the new business owner (the submitter) will not be triggered |
| Manager → | will remain populated with the previous Business Owner's manager. (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the manager approver by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
- If the submitter initiates an update after the initial submission of the request and changes the Business Owner from themselves to another individual, upon resubmission the following approval groups will be triggered:
| Business Owner → | the new business owner will be added (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the business owner by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
| Manager → | will remain populated with the submitter's manager. (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the manager approver by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
If the business owner has already taken action (but no other approvers have taken action) and the submitter initiates an update, the following rules apply:
- If the submitter initiates an update after the Business Owner has taken action and changes the Business Owner from another individual to themselves, upon resubmission the following rules apply:
Any action that the previous Business Owner had taken will remain. (For example, if the previous Business Owner rejected a recipient, the recipient will remain rejected even if the Business Owner is changed to the submitter.)
The following approval groups will be triggered:
| Business Owner → | the previous business owner will be removed from the approval flow and the new business owner (the submitter) will not be triggered |
| Manager → | will remain populated with the previous Business Owner's manager. (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the manager approver by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
The next approver (in this case, the submitter's manager) will be notified that the request is awaiting their approval.
- If the submitter initiates an update after one or more approver's of the request have already taken action and changes the Business Owner to another Business Owner (other than themselves), upon resubmission the following rules apply:
Any action that the previous Business Owner had taken will remain. (For example, if the previous Business Owner rejected a recipient, the recipient will remain rejected even if the Business Owner is changed to a different Business Owner.)
| Business Owner → | will remain populated with the previous Business Owner. (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the business owner by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
| Manager → | will remain populated with the previous Business Owner's manager. (Note: A Request Admin can reassign the manager approver by using the reassign approver feature, if needed.) |
The next approver (in this case, the Business Owner's manager) will be notified that the request is awaiting their approval.
If the business owner and other approvers have already taken action and the submitter initiates an update …
How the system behaves in this scenario will depend on your organization's specifications.
| restart on update configuration is set to TRUE → | if the submitter initiates an update and changes the Business Owner when the request is still in Awaiting Approval status, the approval flow will restart from the beginning upon resubmission of the request |
| restart on update configuration is set to FALSE → | if the submitter initiates an update and changes the Business Owner when the request is still in Awaiting Approval status, the approval flow will continue and all prior approver actions will remain |
If the request is already fully approved and the submitter initiates an update, the following rule will apply:
If the submitter initiates an update after the request is fully approved, the the approval flow will restart from the beginning upon resubmission of the request.