Hierarchy structures have three primary uses:
1. Reporting - Hierarchy structures allow you to link survey data to the areas of your organization it refers to. By filtering reporting data on various facets of your organization, as defined in the hierarchy structures you create, you can place survey data in context and gain greater insight from it.
For more information on using hierarchy structures in reporting, see that topic.
2. Case Management - Hierarchy structures can greatly simplify the definition and upkeep of case routing rules for large organizations. In the hierarchy file, you can define all potential Case Owners, Case Watchers, and Case Supervisors for different areas of your organization, and modify the hierarchy file as often as needed.
Case Management requires a modified hierarchy data file. For instructions on how to create it, see here for the horizontal file with case management and here for the vertical.
For more information on using hierarchy structures in case management, see that topic.
3. Analyst Permissions - You can use hierarchy structures to control which members of your organization have access to various aspects of survey data.
For more information on using hierarchy structures to control analyst permissions, see that topic.
Note: If you use hierarchy structures to control analyst permissions, this will only affect the reporting data displayed on Standard Dashboards, not Dashboards 2.