General Interest

Organize your data with subject trees

Published: January 1, 2008

With a subject tree, sales, marketing, and service managers can access information about products, cases, sales literature, and knowledge base articles. Like the index in a book, the subject tree is the hierarchical list of categories used to organize information in Microsoft Dynamics CRM.

This article shows you how to create a subject tree, add subcategories, and you'll find sample subject trees to use for your own business needs.

Create a subject tree

In the Navigation Pane, click Settings.
Under Settings, click Business Management. Then, in the Business Management area area, click Subjects.
Under Common Tasks, click Add a Subject.
In the Subject dialog box, enter information or observe any noted restrictions or requirements as needed:
- Title
  Enter a name for the subject. This is a required field.
- Parent Subject
  You can click Lookup to search for and select a parent subject for the new subject.
  Leave the Parent Subject box empty if you want the new subject to be a parent subject.
- Description
  Enter a descriptive statement about the subject.
Click OK.
To add a subcategory for a subject, select the subject and then follow steps 3 through 5.

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Examples of subject trees

The following sample subject trees can be used and customized for your business. Only the top level is provided, but you can add subcategories as needed. Click the industry name to expand the tree.

Manufacturing subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for manufacturing. Note that for a discrete or process manufacturing subject tree, the categories are identical. For a manufacturing subject tree, however, you can omit the change-over category.

Manufacturing

Discrete Manufacturing

Process Manufacturing

Technology subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for technology businesses.

Communication Service Provider

Network, Internet, or
Application Service Provider

Telecom

Professional services subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for professional services, such as advertising, financial services, or real estate.

Advertising

Engineering and Architecture

Equipment Providers

Financial Services

Insurance

Legal

Management Services

Professional Services

Real Estate

Retail

Transportation and Logistics

Utilities

Health industry subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for the health-industry services, such as healthcare providers, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.

Healthcare

Health Plan Payor

Healthcare Provider

Medical Device

Pharmaceuticals

Entertainment industry subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for businesses in the entertainment industry.

Entertainment

Media and Entertainment

Miscellaneous businesses subject trees

The following subject trees can be used for businesses that do not fit into any of the previous categories

Banking

Education

Government

Life Sciences

Non-Profit