WO2001082171A1 - System and method for collaborative individual bench marking - Google Patents

System and method for collaborative individual bench marking Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2001082171A1
WO2001082171A1 PCT/US2001/011730 US0111730W WO0182171A1 WO 2001082171 A1 WO2001082171 A1 WO 2001082171A1 US 0111730 W US0111730 W US 0111730W WO 0182171 A1 WO0182171 A1 WO 0182171A1
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WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
user
history
prior
bench
bench mark
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US2001/011730
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Karl O. Kessenich
Bernard Farkas
Donald Seifman
Original Assignee
Netguilds, Inc.
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Netguilds, Inc. filed Critical Netguilds, Inc.
Priority to CA002407625A priority Critical patent/CA2407625A1/en
Priority to AU2001257007A priority patent/AU2001257007A1/en
Publication of WO2001082171A1 publication Critical patent/WO2001082171A1/en

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Classifications

    • G—PHYSICS
    • G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
    • G06Q—INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY [ICT] SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES; SYSTEMS OR METHODS SPECIALLY ADAPTED FOR ADMINISTRATIVE, COMMERCIAL, FINANCIAL, MANAGERIAL OR SUPERVISORY PURPOSES, NOT OTHERWISE PROVIDED FOR
    • G06Q30/00—Commerce
    • G06Q30/02—Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising

Definitions

  • This invention relates to the field of personal management. More particularly, this invention relates to intelligent personal decisions. Discussion of the Background
  • An affinity group is a group of entities that have a common type of activity or a common type of interest.
  • Members of an affinity group may include real people and artificial legal entities. Artificial legal entities include for example, corporations, schools, societies, and associations. Artificial legal entities are referred to herein as either organizations or companies.
  • Members of a personal affinity groups include only real people.
  • Members of industry affinity groups include only artificial legal entities.
  • Members of a specific industry affinity group include only organizations in that specific industry.
  • the members of a personal affinity group may compete against each other in economic, business, political, social, and health related activities and interests.
  • members of a personal affinity group have common types of activities and interests.
  • the common activities and interests in a personal affinity group include economic and business activity, such as pay rate, hours of overtime worked and paid, investment performance, academic grades, hours worked per time period, personal contract terms, personal contract performance, political interests, political rights, and political responsibilities. Since members of a personal affinity group are often competitors with one another members of the group, they tend to not disclose many of the measures of their individual performance to one another.
  • members of a personal affinity group tend not to disclose what products and services they find useful for enhancing their personal performance, or there simply isn't enough information available due to limited social contact between individuals for a member of a personal affinity group to obtain sufficient information from other members of the same affinity group.
  • This invention addresses the lack of availability to a person of information about the person's relative personal performance in a personal affinity group and the lack of availability of information comparing the usefulness of specific products and services directed to improving the person's relative personal performance.
  • the invention provides an online, real time interactive computer network system and method for accepting, storing, and processing benchmark information received from a plurality of users. Processing includes classifying each user as a member of at least one affinity group.
  • the system prompts users to provide data which is a measure of at least one bench mark of the user.
  • the system may store the bench mark data in a database, and the data may be represented in the database in various formats, including numerical, text, and Boolean.
  • the bench marks may include measures of procedures, practices, methods, protocols, intents, opinions and policies.
  • the system is interactive. It accepts data from a user and adds that data to a database.
  • the database is used by the system to respond to the user by providing to the user improvement/solutions.
  • An improvement/solution is a recommendation or a course of action intended to improve a user's measure in a certain bench mark.
  • the improvement/solutions provided by the system to the user for a certain bench mark are based upon the previously collected data in the database.
  • User input data includes bench marking of improvement/solutions, which data is stored in the database.
  • the improvement/solution provided, given a particular user profile may evolve over time, as the data in the database evolves over time.
  • Examples of types of measures stored in the database include but are not limited to: distance in feet and miles; money measured in dollars and cents; time in milli-seconds, seconds, hours, days, weeks, months, and years; energy in dynes and Newtons; medicine in doses, weight amounts, volume amounts, and spoonfuls; physical activity in repetitions, laps, and time; educational progress in letter grades, percentile ranking, and standard test scores; storage measured in liters, farads, and bytes.
  • measurements of procedures, practices, methods and policies include but are not limited to: quality as poor, fair, good, and excellent; frequency as never, sometimes, often and always; monetary as free, inexpensive, fairly expensive and very expensive; customer performance characteristics as poor, satisfactory, very satisfactory and outstanding; trends and inclinations as decreasing, improving, constant and increasing; effort as easy, simple, difficult, complex and challenging; human nature as friendly, courteous, cooperative, uncooperative and unfriendly.
  • the system and method of the invention have application to social, regulatory, legal, economic, political and personal financial bench marks.
  • the invention has applications to personal affinity groups. These groups include (1) investors buying and selling and interested in buying and selling securities (2) students all going to the same type of school, (3) workers on a particular field of endeavor, (3) people entering into similar types of installment contracts, (4) people that enter into certain types of executory contracts, (5) people with similar types of medical problems, (6) people with similar types of political rights or responsibilities.
  • Examples of personal bench marking include the following:
  • Workers in a field where they have a common and identifiable skill like lawyers, carpenters, beauticians, engineers, computer programmers, travel agents, etc.
  • affinity groups the individual worker will enter their own individual performance indicators regarding their skill (pay scale, experience, raise amounts, schooling, employee review periods, working hours, job duties, overtime pay, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other workers in the same field.
  • affinity groups the individual voter will enter their individual preferences and considerations regarding their vote or potential vote (candidate preferences, policy preferences, voter likes and dislikes, voting habits, voter availability, information needs on the issues, issue preferences, communication preferences, awareness to issues, opinion polling, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other eligible voters.
  • the rights to access and to input to the personal affinity group web site bench marking data may be limited to an affinity group sponsor, and degree of access may be hierarchical.
  • a student may have the right to obtain bench marks of the student's own performance and input data for himself or herself.
  • the student's teacher may have rights to access information for all of the students in the teacher's class.
  • the principal of the school at which the student is studying may have rights to amend data for the students and to view the data for all of the students in that school, and obtain bench marks, but not the right to view individual data for a student from another school. Similar rights could be provided for access and input of data to hospital personnel in charge of patients, political parties sponsoring voters, organizations promoting or organizing consumer purchases (buying clubs), unions representing workers, brokerage houses representing investors, etc.
  • the hierarchical nature of rights to access and input data into a database associated with the bench marking system of the invention is an optional feature of the system invention.
  • the log file data for a user's use of a bench marking system includes the user's prior requests for bench marking, frequency or infrequency of bench marks, over a period of days, weeks, or months, the bench marks requested, the user's prior purchases, the user's prior links to vendors, and the Web pages served to the user.
  • the information displayed to the user in response to the user's bench marking may depend at least in part upon the user's use of the system.
  • the system may automatically generate and send to the user information, e.g., via email, based upon (1) the results of the user's bench marking, based upon both the results of the user's prior bench marking and (2) products and services data in the products and services store.
  • the system may automatically generate and send to the user information based upon information on products and services data added to the products and services store database after a user has obtained a bench mark and that are in a products and services category associated with the bench mark that the user previously requested.
  • the system can transmit to the user information including offers for products and services that depends at least in part upon the user's prior use of, and prior products and services ordered from the bench marking web system.
  • the objects of this invention are achieved by providing a novel computer system and computer implemented method for bench marking a person against other comparable persons, by efficiently gathering information characterizing each person, calculating indicators for each person based upon the data characterizing each person, by comparing the values for the indicators for one person to values for indicators for similar persons, and by providing to a user the results of the comparison.
  • the system provides means for identifying and offering personal improvement products and services to the user, the offerings preferably being automatically selected from a product database based upon the bench mark value comparisons and rules relating the user's selection of bench marks and the values for the bench mark comparisons to products intended to address the person's needs for improvement.
  • the novel system and method of the invention provide a user thereof a novel tool for comparative analysis of the user's performance relative to other persons in the same personal affinity group or cross-comparisons between personal affinity groups.
  • the system and method advise the user with prescriptions, including available products and services, for improving the user's personal effectiveness based upon the results of the analysis of the values of the person's bench marks.
  • the use of the system of the invention naturally leads to a novel method of collecting valuable user and organizational data in a novel database, the database including information defining each organization's hierarchical chain of authority, and information for each organization identifying each user's job functions, position, and authority in the organization's chain of authority, and in addition the log data for the user mentioned above.
  • the log data may include measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history and future intent, prior medical and dental history and future intent, prior investment history and future intent, prior legal services history and future intent, prior wages, benefits and compensation history and future intent, prior real estate history and future intent, prior sexual activity history and future intent, prior employment history and future intent, prior religious and spiritual history and future intent, prior wellness activity history and future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history and future intent, and prior physiology history and future intent.
  • each future intent may refer to a separate measure of future intent, in addition to a measure of historical data.
  • the use of the system in which the users bench mark the usefulness of improvement-solution products and services provides a mechanism for the system to improve the effectiveness of the prescriptions it selects to advise users. This enables the system to more effectively merchandise products and services by advising users with improvement- solutions previously ranked by users as relatively more effective than other known improvement-solutions.
  • Figure 1 is a schematic showing a network of digital computers including computers hosting a novel bench marking computer system of the invention
  • Figure 2 is a high level flow chart of a novel bench marking processes of the invention
  • Figure 3 is a flow chart of the Welcome Center processes of Figure 2;
  • Figure 4 is a flow chart of the Bench Marking processes of Figure 2;
  • Figure 5 is a flow chart of the Store processes of Figure 2;
  • Figure 6 is a flow chart of Qualified Lead processes discussed for Figures 4 and 5;
  • Figure 7 is a flow chart of Purchase processes of Figures 4 and 5;
  • Figure 8 is flow chart of Admin processes of Figure 2;
  • Figure 1 shows a digital client computer 1, such as a personal computer, containing an electrical power supply; a central processing unit; means for storing and retrieving data from data storage media; data storage media such as random access memory, read only memory, magnetic disk media, optical disk media; user input/output devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, at an monitor.
  • the client computer 1 is capable of running an operating system, such as a version of Windows or Unix coordinating the activity of the various components of the personal computer.
  • the operating system preferably enables the computer to execute web browser software, such as a version of Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer so that the client computer 1 functions as a network client.
  • the personal computer 1 may alternatively be capable of operating dumb or smart terminal software or any form of continuous session inter computer connection software.
  • Figure 1 also shows a network 2, such and the Internet through which the client computer 1 can interact, for example using TCP/IP protocol, with a bench marking computer system 3 and a vendor computer system 7.
  • a network 2 such and the Internet through which the client computer 1 can interact, for example using TCP/IP protocol, with a bench marking computer system 3 and a vendor computer system 7.
  • the bench marking computer system 3 includes at least one computer running bench marking software.
  • the bench marking computer system 3 runs Web server software so it can interact using graphically formatted files with a user of client computer 1.
  • Figure 1 also shows the user database 4, the organization database 5, and the store database 6 in communication with the bench marking computer system 3. It is to be understood that, although the information about the organization, the store, and the user is described herein as being stored in separate databases, the information could all be stored in one or more computer database files, broken down into one or more logical relational database tables with no or appropriate logical linked fields between the tables as is well known in database programming.
  • the user database 4 stores an identification of each user of the bench marking server system 3 in association with the user's identification: user name, contact information, email address, user contact information. If the user is a member of an organization, the user database may also store the organization identification, user hierarchical position within the organization, user's rights or authorizations to view, use, and change the data stored in the organization database 5.
  • the user database may store in association with the user's identification, the user's personal bench marking information, affinity groups of which the user is a member, and the user's evaluations of improvement-solutions.
  • the user's personal bench marking information may include for example data user personal data comprising measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history, educational future intent, prior medical and dental history, medical and dental future intent, prior investment history, investment future intent, prior legal services history, legal services future intent, prior wages, prior benefits, prior compensation, wage, benefit, and compensation future intents, prior real estate history transactions, real estate transactions future intent, prior sexual activity history, sexual activity future intent, prior employment history, employment future intent, prior religious and spiritual history, religious and spiritual history future intent, prior wellness activity history, wellness activity future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history, recreation, sports, and hobby future intent, physiological history, physiological future intent, psychological history, and psychological future intent.
  • the organization database 5 stores identifications of each organization associated with a user of the bench marking server system 3 in association with each organization's: organization industry group, (for example using organization or user association membership, Standard Industrial Code (SIC), or NAISC as industry group identifications), or a user's voluntary classification of his organization with an industry as the organization's industry group identification), bench marking input data (provided by users of the organization), dates relevant to the bench marking input data (such as week, month, quarter, or year applicable to the data), calculated bench mark output values based upon the organization's input data, rankings of the organization based upon its bench mark output values compared to similar companies bench mark outputs.
  • Input data and output bench marks are described in connection with exemplary organization bench marks shown in Figures 9-17 and discussed hereinafter. Data for each one of the input and output data types described for Figures 9- 17 may be stored in association with an identification of a organization in organization database 5.
  • the store database 6 stores identifications and descriptions of products and services, each product or service is preferably stored in association with identifications of or flags for related bench marks, at least one ranking relative to other products in the same product class for each bench mark, price, and purchase information.
  • the purchase information includes at least one of an address for a link to the store's own purchase system, contact information, such as a URL for a main Web page of a vendor of the product or service or a URL for a Web page of a vendor's Web site offering for sale the product or service, or physical address and telephone contact information for the vendor of the product or service.
  • Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of use of the bench mark computer system 3 communicating via the network 2 with a user's client computer 1.
  • the user either points the browser of the client computer 1 or clicks a link in a Web site that points the browser to the main page of the welcome center 3. While a specific process flow of the user's client computer to Web pages of the bench marking Web site provided by the system 3 will be described, it is understood that Web pages served to the user's client computer 1 often contain a plurality of links to various Web pages provided by the computer system 3 in addition to the Web pages of the specific process flow to be described, and the Web pages (including templates) that can be provided by the system 3 are referred to herein as the bench marking Web site.
  • Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of using the bench marking Web site in which the user links from one of links in step 11 from some other Web site to the main page for the welcome center 13.
  • the user preferably (by clicking appropriate links on pages served to the client computer 1) navigates to the bench marking center.
  • step 15 at the bench marking center in step 15 where the user enters bench mark input data on the user's company, obtains bench mark output data on the user's company (i.e., values for bench marks), obtains prescriptions for the user's company based upon the bench mark output data.
  • step 16 at the store preferably the user purchases prescribed products or services that were prescribed to the user based upon the results of the bench mark analysis.
  • the bench marking computer system 3 directs the client computer to the admin 12 for the user to input and update user information, input and update organization data, and obtain and provide authorization for data input and data access to the bench marking Web site and user and organization databases of system 3.
  • certain Web pages served to the user throughout the bench marking Web site contain links to the forum 14 where the user may engage in electronic and voice discussions with his peers by uploading and downloading data.
  • Figure 3 shows details of the process of use of the welcome center 3.
  • the system 3 displays the main page of welcome center 3.
  • the main page of the welcome center 3 contains descriptive material about the bench marking Web site, preferably containing a link to a Web page providing a tutorial on use of the bench marking Web site, a link to the user log in page (see step 21), and a link to a new user registration page.
  • the descriptive matter in the welcome center main page may include the following items: description of the functions of the bench marking Web site provides, how the bench marking Web site works, a solicitation to type in e-mail addresses of other members of the user's personal affinity group so that the Web site can send e-mail to those e-mail addresses soliciting queries, explanations of why it is important for the user to register, forms requesting suggestions or criticisms, forms allowing completion of the input of corporate information, forms allowing completion of the input of individual registration information, if not yet complete. New user registration
  • the new user registration page provides a form enabling the user to enter certain information, including for example, user name, password, company e-mail address, member number (representing a user's organization's member number), organization fax number, organization name, telephone number, mailing address, and the user's title.
  • the information that the user enters about the user is stored in the user database 4.
  • the bench marking computer system 3 determines from the information provided by the user if the user's organization is not a member.
  • the system 3 sends the client computer 1 a Web page containing a form soliciting the user's organization to become a member, and subsequent Web pages containing forms requesting organization registration information, such as organization industry, names of authorized personal and their levels of authorizations and hierarchical positions (e.g. member of Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Officer, Vice President, Director, Department Supervisor, team Supervisor).
  • organization registration information such as organization industry, names of authorized personal and their levels of authorizations and hierarchical positions (e.g. member of Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Officer, Vice President, Director, Department Supervisor, team Supervisor).
  • the system 3 may provide a Web page to the client computer 1 offering the user, for example, a data subscription (e.g., a one time fee to see the results from one data set), or a subscription for some specified period of time, a request to identify a sponsoring organization and that organization's authorization number for providing either limited or full access to the Web site, and an option to join an association (industry network) providing for the user free access to the bench marking Web site.
  • a data subscription e.g., a one time fee to see the results from one data set
  • a subscription for some specified period of time a request to identify a sponsoring organization and that organization's authorization number for providing either limited or full access to the Web site
  • an option to join an association (industry network) providing for the user free access to the bench marking Web site.
  • the user Once the user has navigated through the welcome center 13 the user is presented a Web page containing links to the bench marking center 15, the forum 14, the store 16, and in some situations (e.g., if the user has rights to modify data for the user's company) to the admin 12.
  • step 21 the system transmits a user log in page to the client computer.
  • a preregistered user can log on (e.g., by entering a user name and password) and then proceed to the bench marking center 15, the forum 14, or the admin 12. If the user is not preregistered, the user may only be allowed to receive the new user registration page.
  • Step 22 is an optional step which may be required if the user has registered but is not authorized to access certain portions of the bench marking Web site.
  • the system 3 queries the user database 4 to determine (1) whether the user is authorized to access the eb site and (2) if so authorized, what information the user is authorized to access. If the user is accessing a personal bench mark process, the user will be granted access. However, if the user is accessing an organization bench marking process, the user may, depending upon his authorizations, be denied access to the bench marking process. For example, a President, Chief Executive Officer, or member of a Board of Directors of an organization may be authorized to access all information regarding that organization. However, a professor may only be allowed to access information regarding the professor's class.
  • the system 3 may provide a page to the user soliciting the user to obtain authorizations, which is part of the function of the admin 12.
  • FIG. 4 shows details of the process of use of the bench mark processing 15.
  • the system 3 transmits the main Web page of the bench mark processing to the client computer 1.
  • the main pages of the bench mark processing displays a menu of links for bench mark indicators, and user clicks a selected bench mark link.
  • step 31 the selection of a bench mark link from the menu may, depending upon the selection, initiate an authorization step, in which the computer system 3 determines whether the user has sufficient authority to obtain the selected bench mark. The determination may be made based upon data for the user stored in the user database 4. If the user is not authorized, the client computer 1 is linked to the admin 12 where the user is provided with selections for obtaining authority.
  • step 31 if the system 3 determines that the user has sufficient authorizations for the process flow for the selected bench mark, the user is prompted in step 32 for input data for the selected bench mark.
  • the user inputs data in response to this prompt.
  • the input data may be input data for (1) investors buying and selling and interested in buying and selling securities (2) students all going to the same type of school, (3) workers on a particular field of endeavor, (3) people entering into similar types of installment contracts, (4) people that enter into certain types of executory contracts, (5) people with similar types of medical problems, (6) people with similar types of political rights or responsibilities.
  • step 31 the user may also be prompted for evaluations of improvement- solutions, and provide evaluations of certain improvement-solutions, which evaluations are stored in the database.
  • the prompt and response regarding improvement- solutions may occur at a different step.
  • the improvement-solutions for which the user is prompted for input may be improvement solutions the system previously recommended to the user in prior sessions, improvement-solutions relating to the user's affinity group or the user's selected bench mark, or improvement-solutions associated with a bench mark for which the system has determined that the user has a relatively high bench mark value.
  • step 33 the system 3 calculates at least one bench mark output based upon the data entered by the user.
  • step 34 the system 3 compares the bench mark output values for the user against bench mark output values for other persons in the user's personal affinity group.
  • the system 3 determines whether the user's bench mark output values are outside a norm for that personal affinity group. This determination may include calculating statistical means, and deviations, for (1) the same benchmark data for persons in the same industry group and (2) for the entire universe of persons' data stored in the user database. Moreover, the system 3 may compare the benchmark data for the person to the statistical values for the same benchmark for other personal affinity groups.
  • the computer system 3 exercises rules depending upon the selected bench mark, and preferably depending upon the results of the comparison of the person's selected bench mark values to bench mark values for other persons to (1) display recommendations and (2) display selected products and services stored in the store database 6.
  • the computer system 3 transmits a Web page to the client computer 1 preferably displaying the bench marks output values, the personal affinity group comparisons, and prescriptions for personal improvement, and the selected products and services.
  • the products and services displayed are intended to be products and services specifically useful to the user with respect to the selected bench mark.
  • the displays include personal affinity group averages, rankings of the person within their personal affinity group, whether the person meets a predetermined standard (e.g., ranking above 60%), the population of persons upon which the personal ranking is based.
  • the display of products and services may itself be ranked based upon price, a combination of price and an objective measure of utility for each product or service, for example provided by user feedback.
  • the recommendations may be divided by product category.
  • Product improvement categories are, for example, software solutions, books and videos, newsletters, education and testing services, etc.
  • the products and services displayed in step 35 may be based upon a set of rules that relate (1) products and services identified in a database associated with the store 6, associations of those products or services in the database with the subject benchmark, and an association of products and services with different rankings of benchmarks in a personal affinity group.
  • the products and services displayed in step 35 may be based in part or in whole upon rules that depend upon users prior ranking of the products and services effectiveness or utility generally, and/or effectiveness and utility in improving a specified bench mark.
  • the system 3 would invoke the rule identifying software solutions for display, and then invoke a rule identifying software products and services identified in store database 6 directed to increasing salary growth.
  • Each display of a product or a service is associated with a link to a purchase offer or a qualified link for the product or service, as discussed below with respect to Figures 5-7.
  • Rules determining which products or services are displayed, and the existence of links to web sites for those products and services may depend upon price of the product or service, prior users' evaluation of the product or service, evaluations of the product or service by prior users who are in a particular affinity group, and existence of listing or linking fees paid to the owner of the bench marking system for listing specified products or services or linking to sites selling or marketing the specified product or service.
  • One or more such improvement- solutions may be displayed at one time.
  • Figure 5 shows a sequence of steps relating to the use of the store 6. From anywhere in the bench marking Web site, the user may click a link connecting to a store front main page.
  • step 40 the system 3 provides to the client computer 1 the store front main page.
  • the store front main page displays product and service category links, such as links for newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos.
  • the user selects one of the identified links, such as the links for newsletters.
  • step 41 the system 3 provides a display to the user of specific newsletter products.
  • the user can select to purchase (or to obtain additional material regarding) newsletter X by clicking on a link identifying newsletter X.
  • the links provided by the system 3 in steps 41-44 are either (1) qualified lead links which are described in Figure 6 or (2) sales offer links which are described in conjunction with Figure 7.
  • the system 3 transmits to the client computer 1 a Web page displaying links for one of the newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos. However, other product and service categories can be displayed.
  • Figure 6 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user clicks a qualified link at any of steps 41-44.
  • step 50 the user selects a link for a product or service, or clicks a qualified lead link from the links displayed in step 35 as a result of a bench marking function. For example the user may click the link displayed in step 41 as a request to purchase newsletter X.
  • step 51 the computer system of the Web site generates a tracking number for that transaction, provides the tracking number to the user, and/or redirects the user's browser to a URL for a distributor of newsletter X, such as a URL for vendor computer system 7 of Figure 1.
  • step 52 the user's browser interacts with a Web site of the distributor of newsletter X, resulting in a purchase transaction in which the user purchases a subscription to the newsletter X. Subsequently, the distributor may pay the owner of the system 3 a referral fee based upon the qualified lead provided by the system 3.
  • Figure 7 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user purchases a product or service from the store 6. That may happen in response to the user drilling down from the main page of the store 6 (steps 40-44) or from the user clicking a link to a product or service displayed in response to a bench marking analysis in step 35.
  • step 60 for example, the user clicks the link for the accounting Y software package displayed in step 42. That action initiates an order transaction process step 61.
  • the order transaction process involves debiting the user's account and crediting the bench marking Web site's account for the cost of the accounting software.
  • step 62 the user is provided with a tracking number for his purchase.
  • step 63 the system 3 generates a shipping authorization order and transmits that order to the distributor or vendor, and credits the distributor or vendor's account.
  • the admin 12 facilitates maintaining the user database 4 and the organization database 5, by soliciting information from the users, storing that information, and generates email transmissions as part of that process to other users and if applicable, to other members of the user's organization.
  • the admin is specifically useful for organizations having heirarchical rights associated with stored data regarding their members.
  • Figure 8 shows a sequence of steps that occur in the admin 12 in Figure 2.
  • the admin 12 provides means for facilitating administration of the user database 4 in the organizational database 5 by the users of the bench marking computer system 3.
  • the system displays to the user links to the admin 12.
  • Those steps are represented schematically by decision step 73 in which the system 3 determines whether the user has appropriate authorizations.
  • Figure 8 shows flow in the admin 12, in which the system 3 serves the user's client computer a series of Web page enabling the user, depending upon the user's rights and authorizations, to update the user's information, other user's information, and the user's organization data in the user and organization databases 4 and 5.
  • step 70 the system 3 transmits to the user requests for information required for authorization.
  • the system 3 may transmit (e.g. via email) requests to representatives of the users organization other than the user to provide to the user the authorizations necessary for the user to proceed with the user's selected action in the bench marking Web site.
  • the system 3 may transmit an email to an authorized member of the users organization with a request to authorize the user for the user's selected activity, and that request may include a request for additional information on additional members of the users organization who should be granted authorization.
  • the system gathers both information necessary to authorize the user in the users selected activity, and may receive additional data.
  • step 71 the system 3 stores the data gathered in step 70 in the user and organization databases 4 and 5, as appropriate.
  • step 72 the system 3 determines whether the user has been granted authorization to proceed. If the user has been granted authorization to proceed with the users selected processing, the system 3 may return the user to the process step that occurred prior to when the user linked to the admin 12. Alternatively, the admin 12 may transmit to the user a page containing links, including for example a link to step 30 in which the bench mark selection menu is displayed to the user.
  • step 72 if the system determines that the user has not been granted authorization, the system may transmit to the client computer 1 a page containing links for the main page for the welcome center 13 and the forum 14.
  • the forum 14 contains a main page providing links to sub-pages that may contain discussions of products provided by the store 6, requests for information of the users segmented by defined categories, and other information deemed useful to the user in deciding whether and what type of products to obtain for the user's organization.
  • the forum 14 is important because it provides a venue for users to communicate with one another, particularly for users in the same affinity group to share information and experiences and insights, thereby self promoting certain products perceived by users to be effective. Moreover, the forum may be seeded with a directory of peer who may be available to the users for advise and counsel.

Abstract

The invention provides a novel system (3), method and database (4) for comparative analysis of a user's (1) performance relative to other persons in the same personal affinity group of cross-comparisons between personal affinity groups. The system (3) and method advise the user with prescriptions, including available products and services, for improving the user's personal effectiveness based upon the results of the analysis of the values of the person's benchmarks. The database (4) stores information identifying each user and their personal bench mark information, and user ratings of improvement-solutions correlated to benchmarks.

Description

System and Method for Collaborative Individual Bench Marking
BACKGROUND. OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention:
This invention relates to the field of personal management. More particularly, this invention relates to intelligent personal decisions. Discussion of the Background
An affinity group is a group of entities that have a common type of activity or a common type of interest. Members of an affinity group may include real people and artificial legal entities. Artificial legal entities include for example, corporations, schools, societies, and associations. Artificial legal entities are referred to herein as either organizations or companies. Members of a personal affinity groups include only real people. Members of industry affinity groups include only artificial legal entities. Members of a specific industry affinity group include only organizations in that specific industry.
The members of a personal affinity group may compete against each other in economic, business, political, social, and health related activities and interests. However, by definition, members of a personal affinity group have common types of activities and interests. The common activities and interests in a personal affinity group include economic and business activity, such as pay rate, hours of overtime worked and paid, investment performance, academic grades, hours worked per time period, personal contract terms, personal contract performance, political interests, political rights, and political responsibilities. Since members of a personal affinity group are often competitors with one another members of the group, they tend to not disclose many of the measures of their individual performance to one another. In addition, members of a personal affinity group tend not to disclose what products and services they find useful for enhancing their personal performance, or there simply isn't enough information available due to limited social contact between individuals for a member of a personal affinity group to obtain sufficient information from other members of the same affinity group. Hence, there is a lack of generally available information regarding (1) an person's relative personal performance relative to the other members of that person's personal affinity group and (2) relative utility of product and service solutions to problems faced by members of the personal affinity group. This invention addresses the lack of availability to a person of information about the person's relative personal performance in a personal affinity group and the lack of availability of information comparing the usefulness of specific products and services directed to improving the person's relative personal performance.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide to a person information about the person's relative personal performance in the person's personal affinity group.
It is another object of the invention to provide to the person information comparing the usefulness of specific products and services directed to improving the person's relative personal performance.
It is another object of the invention to provide products and services directed to improving the person's relative personal performance based upon the personal prior bench mark inquiries, and results, and log data.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a method of building a database of personal information, and affinity group sponsor information.
It is yet another object of this invention to provide a database of affinity group sponsor, and affinity group sponsor employee information.
It is another object of the invention to receive from users (improvement-solutions) ratings or bench marks for specific products and services (improvement-solutions) directed to improving the person's relative personal performance.
The invention provides an online, real time interactive computer network system and method for accepting, storing, and processing benchmark information received from a plurality of users. Processing includes classifying each user as a member of at least one affinity group. The system prompts users to provide data which is a measure of at least one bench mark of the user. The system may store the bench mark data in a database, and the data may be represented in the database in various formats, including numerical, text, and Boolean. The bench marks may include measures of procedures, practices, methods, protocols, intents, opinions and policies. The system is interactive. It accepts data from a user and adds that data to a database. The database is used by the system to respond to the user by providing to the user improvement/solutions. An improvement/solution is a recommendation or a course of action intended to improve a user's measure in a certain bench mark. The improvement/solutions provided by the system to the user for a certain bench mark are based upon the previously collected data in the database. User input data includes bench marking of improvement/solutions, which data is stored in the database. Hence, the improvement/solution provided, given a particular user profile, may evolve over time, as the data in the database evolves over time.
Examples of types of measures stored in the database include but are not limited to: distance in feet and miles; money measured in dollars and cents; time in milli-seconds, seconds, hours, days, weeks, months, and years; energy in dynes and Newtons; medicine in doses, weight amounts, volume amounts, and spoonfuls; physical activity in repetitions, laps, and time; educational progress in letter grades, percentile ranking, and standard test scores; storage measured in liters, farads, and bytes.
Examples of measurements of procedures, practices, methods and policies include but are not limited to: quality as poor, fair, good, and excellent; frequency as never, sometimes, often and always; monetary as free, inexpensive, fairly expensive and very expensive; customer performance characteristics as poor, satisfactory, very satisfactory and outstanding; trends and inclinations as decreasing, improving, constant and increasing; effort as easy, simple, difficult, complex and challenging; human nature as friendly, courteous, cooperative, uncooperative and unfriendly.
The system and method of the invention have application to social, regulatory, legal, economic, political and personal financial bench marks. The invention has applications to personal affinity groups. These groups include (1) investors buying and selling and interested in buying and selling securities (2) students all going to the same type of school, (3) workers on a particular field of endeavor, (3) people entering into similar types of installment contracts, (4) people that enter into certain types of executory contracts, (5) people with similar types of medical problems, (6) people with similar types of political rights or responsibilities. Examples of personal bench marking include the following:
Investors buying and selling securities in public financial markets like; common stocks, bonds, options, commodities, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual investors working independently or through established brokerages houses will enter their own individual performance indicators regarding their investing performance (profits, loses, margin amounts, size of investment, type of investment, duration of investment, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other individuals.
Students going to school at places like colleges, law schools, trade schools, high schools, graduate schools, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual student working independently or through established learning centers will enter their performance indicators regarding their school habits (course materials, study times, leisure activities, course loads, tuition amounts, earnings from side jobs, marital status, travel times, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other students.
Workers (employees or independent contractors) in a field where they have a common and identifiable skill like lawyers, carpenters, beauticians, engineers, computer programmers, travel agents, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual worker will enter their own individual performance indicators regarding their skill (pay scale, experience, raise amounts, schooling, employee review periods, working hours, job duties, overtime pay, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other workers in the same field.
People who enter into rental or lease agreements for things like; cars, apartments, houses, computers, vacation resorts, machines, airplanes, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual renter will enter their individual performance indicators regarding the rental contract (term, monthly payment amounts, interest rate, termination penalties, maintenance obligations, contract dollar amount, character of device rented, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other persons.
People who are undergoing medical treatments, or who are, or who will be under the care of medical care providers for things like; cancer, broken bones, old age conditions, pregnancies, cataracts, organ transplants, dizzy spells, mental conditions, psychological problems, dysfunctional conditions, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual person will enter their own individual performance indicators regarding their ailment (symptoms, treatment methods, treatment costs, insurance reimbursements amounts, type of insurance coverage, nature of medicines, characteristics of the medical provider, treatment location, time between treatments, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench , mark comparisons to data entered by other people.
Consumers who buy common things like; cars, television sets, machinery, clothes, furniture, computers, live stock, food, software, legal services, professional services, vitamins, houses, airplanes, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual consumer or purchaser will enter their individual performance indicators regarding their own purchase contract (cost, warranties, return policies, customer service, maintenance, restocking policies, delivery methods and cost, availability of financing details, purchasing methods, finance hurdles, contract types, delivery period, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other consumers.
Eligible voters who are in a position to influence legislation or elect people to job functions related to; public policy, public office, laws, social reforms, economic reforms, etc. In these types of affinity groups the individual voter will enter their individual preferences and considerations regarding their vote or potential vote (candidate preferences, policy preferences, voter likes and dislikes, voting habits, voter availability, information needs on the issues, issue preferences, communication preferences, awareness to issues, opinion polling, etc.) and the bench marking system will provide bench mark comparisons to data entered by other eligible voters.
The rights to access and to input to the personal affinity group web site bench marking data may be limited to an affinity group sponsor, and degree of access may be hierarchical. For example, a student may have the right to obtain bench marks of the student's own performance and input data for himself or herself. The student's teacher may have rights to access information for all of the students in the teacher's class. The principal of the school at which the student is studying may have rights to amend data for the students and to view the data for all of the students in that school, and obtain bench marks, but not the right to view individual data for a student from another school. Similar rights could be provided for access and input of data to hospital personnel in charge of patients, political parties sponsoring voters, organizations promoting or organizing consumer purchases (buying clubs), unions representing workers, brokerage houses representing investors, etc. However, the hierarchical nature of rights to access and input data into a database associated with the bench marking system of the invention is an optional feature of the system invention. Furthermore, the log file data for a user's use of a bench marking system includes the user's prior requests for bench marking, frequency or infrequency of bench marks, over a period of days, weeks, or months, the bench marks requested, the user's prior purchases, the user's prior links to vendors, and the Web pages served to the user. The information displayed to the user in response to the user's bench marking may depend at least in part upon the user's use of the system. In addition, the system may automatically generate and send to the user information, e.g., via email, based upon (1) the results of the user's bench marking, based upon both the results of the user's prior bench marking and (2) products and services data in the products and services store. In addition, the system may automatically generate and send to the user information based upon information on products and services data added to the products and services store database after a user has obtained a bench mark and that are in a products and services category associated with the bench mark that the user previously requested. Generally, the system can transmit to the user information including offers for products and services that depends at least in part upon the user's prior use of, and prior products and services ordered from the bench marking web system.
The objects of this invention are achieved by providing a novel computer system and computer implemented method for bench marking a person against other comparable persons, by efficiently gathering information characterizing each person, calculating indicators for each person based upon the data characterizing each person, by comparing the values for the indicators for one person to values for indicators for similar persons, and by providing to a user the results of the comparison. In addition, the system provides means for identifying and offering personal improvement products and services to the user, the offerings preferably being automatically selected from a product database based upon the bench mark value comparisons and rules relating the user's selection of bench marks and the values for the bench mark comparisons to products intended to address the person's needs for improvement.
Thus, the novel system and method of the invention provide a user thereof a novel tool for comparative analysis of the user's performance relative to other persons in the same personal affinity group or cross-comparisons between personal affinity groups. The system and method advise the user with prescriptions, including available products and services, for improving the user's personal effectiveness based upon the results of the analysis of the values of the person's bench marks. In addition, the use of the system of the invention naturally leads to a novel method of collecting valuable user and organizational data in a novel database, the database including information defining each organization's hierarchical chain of authority, and information for each organization identifying each user's job functions, position, and authority in the organization's chain of authority, and in addition the log data for the user mentioned above. The log data may include measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history and future intent, prior medical and dental history and future intent, prior investment history and future intent, prior legal services history and future intent, prior wages, benefits and compensation history and future intent, prior real estate history and future intent, prior sexual activity history and future intent, prior employment history and future intent, prior religious and spiritual history and future intent, prior wellness activity history and future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history and future intent, and prior physiology history and future intent. Here, each future intent may refer to a separate measure of future intent, in addition to a measure of historical data.
Further, the use of the system in which the users bench mark the usefulness of improvement-solution products and services provides a mechanism for the system to improve the effectiveness of the prescriptions it selects to advise users. This enables the system to more effectively merchandise products and services by advising users with improvement- solutions previously ranked by users as relatively more effective than other known improvement-solutions.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
A more complete appreciation of the invention and many of the attendant advantages thereof will be readily obtained as the same becomes better understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
Figure 1 is a schematic showing a network of digital computers including computers hosting a novel bench marking computer system of the invention;
Figure 2 is a high level flow chart of a novel bench marking processes of the invention;
Figure 3 is a flow chart of the Welcome Center processes of Figure 2; Figure 4 is a flow chart of the Bench Marking processes of Figure 2;
Figure 5 is a flow chart of the Store processes of Figure 2;
Figure 6 is a flow chart of Qualified Lead processes discussed for Figures 4 and 5;
Figure 7 is a flow chart of Purchase processes of Figures 4 and 5;
Figure 8 is flow chart of Admin processes of Figure 2;
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
In the drawings, like reference numerals designate identical or corresponding parts throughout the several views. OVERVIEW OF THE BENCH MARKING SYSTEM
Figure 1 shows a digital client computer 1, such as a personal computer, containing an electrical power supply; a central processing unit; means for storing and retrieving data from data storage media; data storage media such as random access memory, read only memory, magnetic disk media, optical disk media; user input/output devices, such as a mouse, a keyboard, at an monitor. The client computer 1 is capable of running an operating system, such as a version of Windows or Unix coordinating the activity of the various components of the personal computer. The operating system preferably enables the computer to execute web browser software, such as a version of Netscape Navigator or Internet Explorer so that the client computer 1 functions as a network client. However, the personal computer 1 may alternatively be capable of operating dumb or smart terminal software or any form of continuous session inter computer connection software.
Figure 1 also shows a network 2, such and the Internet through which the client computer 1 can interact, for example using TCP/IP protocol, with a bench marking computer system 3 and a vendor computer system 7.
The bench marking computer system 3 includes at least one computer running bench marking software. Preferably, the bench marking computer system 3 runs Web server software so it can interact using graphically formatted files with a user of client computer 1.
Figure 1 also shows the user database 4, the organization database 5, and the store database 6 in communication with the bench marking computer system 3. It is to be understood that, although the information about the organization, the store, and the user is described herein as being stored in separate databases, the information could all be stored in one or more computer database files, broken down into one or more logical relational database tables with no or appropriate logical linked fields between the tables as is well known in database programming.
The user database 4 stores an identification of each user of the bench marking server system 3 in association with the user's identification: user name, contact information, email address, user contact information. If the user is a member of an organization, the user database may also store the organization identification, user hierarchical position within the organization, user's rights or authorizations to view, use, and change the data stored in the organization database 5.
In addition, the user database may store in association with the user's identification, the user's personal bench marking information, affinity groups of which the user is a member, and the user's evaluations of improvement-solutions. The user's personal bench marking information may include for example data user personal data comprising measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history, educational future intent, prior medical and dental history, medical and dental future intent, prior investment history, investment future intent, prior legal services history, legal services future intent, prior wages, prior benefits, prior compensation, wage, benefit, and compensation future intents, prior real estate history transactions, real estate transactions future intent, prior sexual activity history, sexual activity future intent, prior employment history, employment future intent, prior religious and spiritual history, religious and spiritual history future intent, prior wellness activity history, wellness activity future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history, recreation, sports, and hobby future intent, physiological history, physiological future intent, psychological history, and psychological future intent.
The organization database 5 stores identifications of each organization associated with a user of the bench marking server system 3 in association with each organization's: organization industry group, (for example using organization or user association membership, Standard Industrial Code (SIC), or NAISC as industry group identifications), or a user's voluntary classification of his organization with an industry as the organization's industry group identification), bench marking input data (provided by users of the organization), dates relevant to the bench marking input data (such as week, month, quarter, or year applicable to the data), calculated bench mark output values based upon the organization's input data, rankings of the organization based upon its bench mark output values compared to similar companies bench mark outputs. Input data and output bench marks are described in connection with exemplary organization bench marks shown in Figures 9-17 and discussed hereinafter. Data for each one of the input and output data types described for Figures 9- 17 may be stored in association with an identification of a organization in organization database 5.
The store database 6 stores identifications and descriptions of products and services, each product or service is preferably stored in association with identifications of or flags for related bench marks, at least one ranking relative to other products in the same product class for each bench mark, price, and purchase information. The purchase information includes at least one of an address for a link to the store's own purchase system, contact information, such as a URL for a main Web page of a vendor of the product or service or a URL for a Web page of a vendor's Web site offering for sale the product or service, or physical address and telephone contact information for the vendor of the product or service. OVERVIEW OF THE METHOD OF USE OF THE BENCH MARKING SYSTEM
Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of use of the bench mark computer system 3 communicating via the network 2 with a user's client computer 1. The user either points the browser of the client computer 1 or clicks a link in a Web site that points the browser to the main page of the welcome center 3. While a specific process flow of the user's client computer to Web pages of the bench marking Web site provided by the system 3 will be described, it is understood that Web pages served to the user's client computer 1 often contain a plurality of links to various Web pages provided by the computer system 3 in addition to the Web pages of the specific process flow to be described, and the Web pages (including templates) that can be provided by the system 3 are referred to herein as the bench marking Web site.
Figure 2 illustrates an overview of a process of using the bench marking Web site in which the user links from one of links in step 11 from some other Web site to the main page for the welcome center 13. In step 13, from the welcome center, the user preferably (by clicking appropriate links on pages served to the client computer 1) navigates to the bench marking center. In step 15, at the bench marking center in step 15 where the user enters bench mark input data on the user's company, obtains bench mark output data on the user's company (i.e., values for bench marks), obtains prescriptions for the user's company based upon the bench mark output data. In step 16, at the store preferably the user purchases prescribed products or services that were prescribed to the user based upon the results of the bench mark analysis.
In addition, in response to predetermined conditions, the bench marking computer system 3 directs the client computer to the admin 12 for the user to input and update user information, input and update organization data, and obtain and provide authorization for data input and data access to the bench marking Web site and user and organization databases of system 3. Moreover, certain Web pages served to the user throughout the bench marking Web site contain links to the forum 14 where the user may engage in electronic and voice discussions with his peers by uploading and downloading data. WELCOME CENTER PROCESSING
Figure 3 shows details of the process of use of the welcome center 3. In step 20, the system 3 displays the main page of welcome center 3. The main page of the welcome center 3 contains descriptive material about the bench marking Web site, preferably containing a link to a Web page providing a tutorial on use of the bench marking Web site, a link to the user log in page (see step 21), and a link to a new user registration page.
The descriptive matter in the welcome center main page may include the following items: description of the functions of the bench marking Web site provides, how the bench marking Web site works, a solicitation to type in e-mail addresses of other members of the user's personal affinity group so that the Web site can send e-mail to those e-mail addresses soliciting queries, explanations of why it is important for the user to register, forms requesting suggestions or criticisms, forms allowing completion of the input of corporate information, forms allowing completion of the input of individual registration information, if not yet complete. New user registration
The new user registration page provides a form enabling the user to enter certain information, including for example, user name, password, company e-mail address, member number (representing a user's organization's member number), organization fax number, organization name, telephone number, mailing address, and the user's title. The information that the user enters about the user is stored in the user database 4. The bench marking computer system 3 determines from the information provided by the user if the user's organization is not a member. If the user's organization is not a member, the system 3 sends the client computer 1 a Web page containing a form soliciting the user's organization to become a member, and subsequent Web pages containing forms requesting organization registration information, such as organization industry, names of authorized personal and their levels of authorizations and hierarchical positions (e.g. member of Board of Directors, Chief Executive Officer, Corporate Officer, Vice President, Director, Department Supervisor, team Supervisor).
If the user declines to register the user's organization as a member, the system 3 may provide a Web page to the client computer 1 offering the user, for example, a data subscription (e.g., a one time fee to see the results from one data set), or a subscription for some specified period of time, a request to identify a sponsoring organization and that organization's authorization number for providing either limited or full access to the Web site, and an option to join an association (industry network) providing for the user free access to the bench marking Web site.
Once the user has navigated through the welcome center 13 the user is presented a Web page containing links to the bench marking center 15, the forum 14, the store 16, and in some situations (e.g., if the user has rights to modify data for the user's company) to the admin 12. User log in
In step 21, the system transmits a user log in page to the client computer. A preregistered user can log on (e.g., by entering a user name and password) and then proceed to the bench marking center 15, the forum 14, or the admin 12. If the user is not preregistered, the user may only be allowed to receive the new user registration page.
Step 22 is an optional step which may be required if the user has registered but is not authorized to access certain portions of the bench marking Web site. After the user has completed inputting his information in the user information step 21, in step 22 the system 3 queries the user database 4 to determine (1) whether the user is authorized to access the eb site and (2) if so authorized, what information the user is authorized to access. If the user is accessing a personal bench mark process, the user will be granted access. However, if the user is accessing an organization bench marking process, the user may, depending upon his authorizations, be denied access to the bench marking process. For example, a President, Chief Executive Officer, or member of a Board of Directors of an organization may be authorized to access all information regarding that organization. However, a professor may only be allowed to access information regarding the professor's class.
If querying of the user database 4 indicates that the user is not authorized to access the Web site, the system 3 may provide a page to the user soliciting the user to obtain authorizations, which is part of the function of the admin 12. BENCH MARKING PROCESSING
Figure 4 shows details of the process of use of the bench mark processing 15. In step 30, the system 3 transmits the main Web page of the bench mark processing to the client computer 1. The main pages of the bench mark processing displays a menu of links for bench mark indicators, and user clicks a selected bench mark link.
In step 31 , the selection of a bench mark link from the menu may, depending upon the selection, initiate an authorization step, in which the computer system 3 determines whether the user has sufficient authority to obtain the selected bench mark. The determination may be made based upon data for the user stored in the user database 4. If the user is not authorized, the client computer 1 is linked to the admin 12 where the user is provided with selections for obtaining authority.
In step 31, if the system 3 determines that the user has sufficient authorizations for the process flow for the selected bench mark, the user is prompted in step 32 for input data for the selected bench mark. The user inputs data in response to this prompt. For example, the input data may be input data for (1) investors buying and selling and interested in buying and selling securities (2) students all going to the same type of school, (3) workers on a particular field of endeavor, (3) people entering into similar types of installment contracts, (4) people that enter into certain types of executory contracts, (5) people with similar types of medical problems, (6) people with similar types of political rights or responsibilities.
Also in step 31, the user may also be prompted for evaluations of improvement- solutions, and provide evaluations of certain improvement-solutions, which evaluations are stored in the database. Alternatively, the prompt and response regarding improvement- solutions may occur at a different step. In addition, the improvement-solutions for which the user is prompted for input may be improvement solutions the system previously recommended to the user in prior sessions, improvement-solutions relating to the user's affinity group or the user's selected bench mark, or improvement-solutions associated with a bench mark for which the system has determined that the user has a relatively high bench mark value.
In step 33, the system 3 calculates at least one bench mark output based upon the data entered by the user.
In step 34, the system 3 compares the bench mark output values for the user against bench mark output values for other persons in the user's personal affinity group. The system 3 determines whether the user's bench mark output values are outside a norm for that personal affinity group. This determination may include calculating statistical means, and deviations, for (1) the same benchmark data for persons in the same industry group and (2) for the entire universe of persons' data stored in the user database. Moreover, the system 3 may compare the benchmark data for the person to the statistical values for the same benchmark for other personal affinity groups.
In step 35, the computer system 3 exercises rules depending upon the selected bench mark, and preferably depending upon the results of the comparison of the person's selected bench mark values to bench mark values for other persons to (1) display recommendations and (2) display selected products and services stored in the store database 6. The computer system 3 transmits a Web page to the client computer 1 preferably displaying the bench marks output values, the personal affinity group comparisons, and prescriptions for personal improvement, and the selected products and services. The products and services displayed are intended to be products and services specifically useful to the user with respect to the selected bench mark. The displays include personal affinity group averages, rankings of the person within their personal affinity group, whether the person meets a predetermined standard (e.g., ranking above 60%), the population of persons upon which the personal ranking is based. Moreover, the display of products and services may itself be ranked based upon price, a combination of price and an objective measure of utility for each product or service, for example provided by user feedback. In addition, the recommendations may be divided by product category. Product improvement categories are, for example, software solutions, books and videos, newsletters, education and testing services, etc.
There are many rules defining high rankings for product and service improvement offers based upon bench mark data.
The products and services displayed in step 35 may be based upon a set of rules that relate (1) products and services identified in a database associated with the store 6, associations of those products or services in the database with the subject benchmark, and an association of products and services with different rankings of benchmarks in a personal affinity group. In addition, the products and services displayed in step 35 may be based in part or in whole upon rules that depend upon users prior ranking of the products and services effectiveness or utility generally, and/or effectiveness and utility in improving a specified bench mark. For example, if the persons's salary benchmark indicated that the company was in the fifth percentile in salary (i.e., being paid a very low salary), and if a rule existed indicating that software was the most useful type of product addressing low salary ranking, the system 3 would invoke the rule identifying software solutions for display, and then invoke a rule identifying software products and services identified in store database 6 directed to increasing salary growth. Each display of a product or a service is associated with a link to a purchase offer or a qualified link for the product or service, as discussed below with respect to Figures 5-7.
Rules determining which products or services are displayed, and the existence of links to web sites for those products and services, may depend upon price of the product or service, prior users' evaluation of the product or service, evaluations of the product or service by prior users who are in a particular affinity group, and existence of listing or linking fees paid to the owner of the bench marking system for listing specified products or services or linking to sites selling or marketing the specified product or service. One or more such improvement- solutions may be displayed at one time.
Figure 5 shows a sequence of steps relating to the use of the store 6. From anywhere in the bench marking Web site, the user may click a link connecting to a store front main page.
In step 40, the system 3 provides to the client computer 1 the store front main page. The store front main page displays product and service category links, such as links for newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos. The user selects one of the identified links, such as the links for newsletters.
In step 41, the system 3 provides a display to the user of specific newsletter products. In step 41, for example, the user can select to purchase (or to obtain additional material regarding) newsletter X by clicking on a link identifying newsletter X. The links provided by the system 3 in steps 41-44 are either (1) qualified lead links which are described in Figure 6 or (2) sales offer links which are described in conjunction with Figure 7. In each one of steps 41-44, the system 3 transmits to the client computer 1 a Web page displaying links for one of the newsletters, software, hardware, and books and videos. However, other product and service categories can be displayed.
Figure 6 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user clicks a qualified link at any of steps 41-44.
In step 50, the user selects a link for a product or service, or clicks a qualified lead link from the links displayed in step 35 as a result of a bench marking function. For example the user may click the link displayed in step 41 as a request to purchase newsletter X.
In step 51, the computer system of the Web site generates a tracking number for that transaction, provides the tracking number to the user, and/or redirects the user's browser to a URL for a distributor of newsletter X, such as a URL for vendor computer system 7 of Figure 1.
In step 52, the user's browser interacts with a Web site of the distributor of newsletter X, resulting in a purchase transaction in which the user purchases a subscription to the newsletter X. Subsequently, the distributor may pay the owner of the system 3 a referral fee based upon the qualified lead provided by the system 3.
Figure 7 shows a sequence of steps that occur when a user purchases a product or service from the store 6. That may happen in response to the user drilling down from the main page of the store 6 (steps 40-44) or from the user clicking a link to a product or service displayed in response to a bench marking analysis in step 35.
In step 60, for example, the user clicks the link for the accounting Y software package displayed in step 42. That action initiates an order transaction process step 61. The order transaction process involves debiting the user's account and crediting the bench marking Web site's account for the cost of the accounting software. In step 62, the user is provided with a tracking number for his purchase.
In step 63, the system 3 generates a shipping authorization order and transmits that order to the distributor or vendor, and credits the distributor or vendor's account. The ability of the user to browse through descriptions of products offered from a plurality of vendor organizations, but targeted to the user's needs as determined based upon the bench mark results, and to do so by viewing Web pages transmitted from the bench marking web site, before linking to the vendor's Web site (or purchasing the product directly from the bench marking Web site), enables the users to efficiently compare competing products when attempting to decide what to purchase. ADMIN - DATABASE MAINTENANCE
The admin 12 facilitates maintaining the user database 4 and the organization database 5, by soliciting information from the users, storing that information, and generates email transmissions as part of that process to other users and if applicable, to other members of the user's organization. The admin is specifically useful for organizations having heirarchical rights associated with stored data regarding their members.
Figure 8 shows a sequence of steps that occur in the admin 12 in Figure 2. The admin 12 provides means for facilitating administration of the user database 4 in the organizational database 5 by the users of the bench marking computer system 3. At several steps throughout the use of the bench marking computer system 3, the system displays to the user links to the admin 12. Those steps are represented schematically by decision step 73 in which the system 3 determines whether the user has appropriate authorizations.
Figure 8 shows flow in the admin 12, in which the system 3 serves the user's client computer a series of Web page enabling the user, depending upon the user's rights and authorizations, to update the user's information, other user's information, and the user's organization data in the user and organization databases 4 and 5.
In step 70, the system 3 transmits to the user requests for information required for authorization. In addition, in step 70, the system 3 may transmit (e.g. via email) requests to representatives of the users organization other than the user to provide to the user the authorizations necessary for the user to proceed with the user's selected action in the bench marking Web site. For example, the system 3 may transmit an email to an authorized member of the users organization with a request to authorize the user for the user's selected activity, and that request may include a request for additional information on additional members of the users organization who should be granted authorization. Thus, in step 70, the system gathers both information necessary to authorize the user in the users selected activity, and may receive additional data.
In step 71, the system 3 stores the data gathered in step 70 in the user and organization databases 4 and 5, as appropriate.
In step 72, the system 3 determines whether the user has been granted authorization to proceed. If the user has been granted authorization to proceed with the users selected processing, the system 3 may return the user to the process step that occurred prior to when the user linked to the admin 12. Alternatively, the admin 12 may transmit to the user a page containing links, including for example a link to step 30 in which the bench mark selection menu is displayed to the user.
In step 72, if the system determines that the user has not been granted authorization, the system may transmit to the client computer 1 a page containing links for the main page for the welcome center 13 and the forum 14.
The forum 14 contains a main page providing links to sub-pages that may contain discussions of products provided by the store 6, requests for information of the users segmented by defined categories, and other information deemed useful to the user in deciding whether and what type of products to obtain for the user's organization.
The forum 14 is important because it provides a venue for users to communicate with one another, particularly for users in the same affinity group to share information and experiences and insights, thereby self promoting certain products perceived by users to be effective. Moreover, the forum may be seeded with a directory of peer who may be available to the users for advise and counsel.

Claims

Claims:
1. A computer network implemented method comprising of the steps of: receiving a person's personal bench mark data for a bench mark at a bench marking computer; determining a bench mark value for said person based upon said bench mark data; ranking said bench mark value for said person relative to stored values for other persons for said bench mark; and providing an indication based at least in part upon said ranking.
2. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of transmitting said bench mark data from a client computer to said bench marking computer.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said indication comprises of an indication of said ranking.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said indication comprises an indication of an offer of a product or service.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said indication depends upon said bench mark and said ranking.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said indication comprises a prescription.
7. The method of claim 1 further comprising the step of storing said bench mark data for said person in association with an identification of said person in a database.
8. Method of claim 1 further comprising receiving and storing identification of users in association with rights of said users.
9. The method of claim 6 further comprises collecting user information evaluating prescriptions, and wherein said prescription provided to said user depends upon the user collected information evaluating prescriptions.
10. The method of claim 8 wherein said rights includes rights of said users to access information contained in said database.
11. A computer network implemented method comprising the steps of: receiving a person's personal bench mark data for a bench mark at a bench marking computer; determining a bench mark value for said person based upon said bench mark data; and providing an indication based at least in part upon said bench mark value.
12. The method of claim 11, further comprising receiving at said bench marking computer bench mark data for improvement-solutions from users.
13. The method of claim 12, further comprising depending said indication upon said bench mark data for improvement-solutions obtained from users.
14. The method of claim 11 wherein said step of providing comprises providing an indication based at least in part upon a user's log data.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior purchase history.
16. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior educational history and future intent.
17. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior medical and dental history and future intent.
18. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior investment history and future intent.
19. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior legal services history and future intent.
20. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior wages, benefits and compensation history and future intent.
21. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior real estate history and future intent.
22. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior sexual activity history and future intent.
23. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior employment history and future intent.
24. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior religious and spiritual history and future intent.
25. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior wellness activity history and future intent.
26. The method of claim 14 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior recreation, sports and hobby history and future intent.
27. The method of claim 124 wherein said log data comprises a user's prior physiology history and future intent.
28. A computer network system comprising: means for receiving a person's personal bench mark data for a bench mark at a bench marking computer; means for determining a bench mark value for said person based upon said bench mark data; means for ranking said bench mark value for said person relative to stored values for other persons for said bench mark; and means for providing an indication based at least in part upon said ranking.
29. A computer network system comprising: means for receiving a person's personal bench mark data for a bench mark at a bench marking computer; means for determining a bench mark value for said person based upon said bench mark data; and means for providing an indication based at least in part upon said bench mark value.
30. A computer network implemented method comprising the steps of: receiving, at a bench marking computer, user data quantifying utility of a number of improvement-solutions for increasing members' measure in a bench mark; determining which of said number of improvement-solutions is most useful for improving said measure for an affinity group, based at least in part upon said user data; receiving at a bench marking computer bench mark input data from a person who is a member of said affinity group; and advising said person to use the improvement-solution determined to be most useful.
31. A computer network system comprising: means for receiving, at a bench marking computer, user data quantifying utility of a number of improvement-solutions for increasing members' measure in a bench mark; means for determining which of said number of improvement-solutions is most useful for improving said measure for an affinity group, based at least in part upon said user data; means for receiving at a bench marking computer bench mark input data from a person who is a member of said affinity group; and means for advising said person to use the improvement-solution determined to be most useful.
32. A computer implemented method of building a database of personal affinity group information, comprising the steps of: prompting a user for identification and personal data; receiving and storing user identification and storing in association with said user identification user personal data, said user personal data comprising at least two of measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history, educational history future intent, prior medical and dental history, medical and dental future intent, prior investment history, investment future intent, prior legal services history, legal services future intent, prior wages, prior benefits, prior compensation, wage, benefit, and compensation future intents, prior real estate history transactions, real estate transactions future intent, prior sexual activity history, sexual activity future intent, prior employment history, employment future intent, prior religious and spiritual history, religious and spiritual history future intent, prior wellness activity history, wellness activity future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history, recreation, sports, and hobby future intent, physiological history, physiological future intent, psychological history, and psychological future intent.
33. The method of claim 32 further comprising the steps of; prompting said user for evaluation of at least one improvement-solution; and storing in association with said improvement solution said evaluation.
34. The method of claim 33 further comprising the step of storing an affinity group identification associated with said user in association with said evaluation.
35. A computer implemented database of personal affinity group information, comprising: user identification and personal data; stored in association with said user identification user personal data, said user personal data comprising at least two of measures of a user's prior purchase history, prior educational history, educational history future intent, prior medical and dental history, medical and dental future intent, prior investment history, investment future intent, prior legal services history, legal services future intent, prior wages, prior benefits, prior compensation, wage, benefit, and compensation future intents, prior real estate history transactions, real estate transactions future intent, prior sexual activity history, sexual activity future intent, prior employment history, employment future intent, prior religious and spiritual history, religious and spiritual history future intent, prior wellness activity history, wellness activity future intent, prior recreation, sports and hobby history, recreation, sports, and hobby future intent, prior physiology history, physiological future intent, psychological history, and psychological future intent.
36. The database of claim 35 further comprising: data identifying at least one improvement-solution; and an improvement solution user evaluation.
37. The database of claim 36 further comprising an affinity group identification associated with said user stored in association with said evaluation.
PCT/US2001/011730 2000-04-25 2001-04-25 System and method for collaborative individual bench marking WO2001082171A1 (en)

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CA2407625A1 (en) 2001-11-01

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