Approving a Strategy and Plan

Objective

After completing this lesson, you will be able to activate a strategy and plan using the approval process.

The Value of Approving a Strategy and Plan

In this video, Alex explains the value of Approving a Strategy and Plan:

Approving a Strategy and Plan

Once the strategy and plan document is submitted for approval, the assigned approvers have the responsibility to either approve or reject the document. An approver for a category may face one of the following scenarios:

Criteria	Workflow
No assigned approver	The strategy and plan document is automatically approved, changing its status from Pending Approval to Approved.
Level 1 approver	The strategy and plan document is sent to the Level 1 Approvers for review. Level 1 Approvers can access the document through their My Inbox page and choose one of the following options: Approve: When all Level 1 Approvers have approved the document, its status changes from Pending Approval to Approved. Reject: If a Level 1 Approver rejects the document, its status changes to Rejected. The document is then sent back to the category manager for revisions and resubmission. Note If there are multiple Level 1 Approvers and one of them rejects the strategy and plan document, it will be removed from the My Inbox page of the other approvers.
Category Strategy approver	The strategy and plan document is sent to the designated Category Strategy Approver. The approver can review the document on their My Inbox page and select one of the following options: Approve: The status of the document changes from Pending Approval to Approved. Reject: The status of the document changes to Rejected, and it is sent back to the category manager for revisions and resubmission.
Level 1 approvers and Category Stragegy approver	The strategy and plan document is initially sent to the Level 1 approver. Each Level 1 approver has two options: Approve: If approved, the document will be sent to the Category Strategy Approver for final approval. It is important to note that the document is only routed to the Category Strategy Approver after all Level 1 Approver have given their approval. Reject: If rejected, the document's status is updated to "Rejected" and is returned to the category manager for revisions and resubmission. Once all Level 1 approvers have approved the document, it is forwarded to the Category Strategy Approver, who also has two options: Approve: If approved, the document's status will change from "Pending Approval" to "Approved." Reject: If rejected, the document's status will be updated to "Rejected," and it will be sent back to the category manager for revisions and resubmission.

The category manager can select the header of the Approval Flow card and view the Approval section to see how and who is assigned to approve the document. The category manager receives an email indicating the name and the status of the strategy and plan document, whether approved or rejected. The category manager can activate the strategy and plan document after it has been approved by all of the assigned approvers.

Summary

This lesson guides you through the steps and criteria involved in the approval process for strategy and plan documents within SAP Ariba. Once a document is submitted for approval, assigned approvers must decide whether to approve or reject it.

Approval Scenarios:

No Assigned Approver
1. Document is sent to Level 1 Approvers for review through their My Inbox page.
2. Options include Approve and Reject.
Level 1 Approver
1. Document is sent to Level 1 Approvers for review through their My Inbox page.
2. Options include Approve and Reject.
Category Strategy Approver
1. Document is reviewed by the designated Category Strategy Approver through their My Inbox page.
2. Options include Approve and Reject.
Level 1 and Category Strategy Approvers
1. Sent first to Level 1 Approvers. If approved by all, sent to Category Strategy Approver for final decision.
2. Options include Approve and Reject.
3. The Category Strategy Approver has the final say (Approve or Reject).

Viewing Approval Flow:

The category manager can click the Approval Flow card header to view the approval section and see who is assigned to approve the document.

Notification and Activation:

Category managers receive an email about the document's status (approved or rejected).

Upon approval by all assigned approvers, the category manager can activate the strategy and plan document.

This lesson outlines the structured approval workflow, ensuring clarity on how documents are evaluated and processed within SAP Ariba.

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