The relationship hierarchy displays the organizational structure that a selected entity is a part of and its relationships with other entities, using a tree-type view. This structure is company-oriented, but the tree also displays user-created relationships between entities based on relationship custom fields.

On the Contacts workspace, an entity's Hierarchy tab displays the relationship hierarchy for a selected entity in the following subtabs:

• The Company subtab displays an organizational structure based on the company relationship type, which organizes entities based on companies and parent companies.
• The Reports To subtab applies only to users. It organizes users based on whom they report to. Essentially, it displays the internal structure of your company.
• The Household subtab organizes contacts based on their households. You will see the household name (for example, Filson Household), and a list of all the household members (for example, Filson, Jessica and Filson, Joseph). When you click on a contact who belongs to a household in the Household subtab, the detail page for the contact opens.
  

Relationship hierarchy directionality

The node above a given entity in the tree is referred to as its parent node, and an entity below it is referred to as its child node.

To move through the relationship hierarchy, you can:

• Click the Expand button  to expand a node in the tree and view the node's children.
• Click the Collapse button  to collapse a node in the tree.
• Click an entity's name to navigate to its detail page.

The hierarchy also displays relationship custom fields that are used to define a relationship between two entities. A relationship custom field's value is another entity in the system.

Relationships defined by relationship custom fields are not considered child or parent nodes in the relationship hierarchy.

By expanding successive nodes in the tree, you can navigate the hierarchy to see how entities are related to each other and understand the organization structure that an entity is a part of.

Related links

Managing custom fields - Use custom fields to store optional data for filtering, searching, and reporting.
Activities - Use activities to record your communications and interactions with clients. To view activities for all members across a department, company, or household, roll up activities based on the relationship hierarchy.