Universal Containers (UC) requested that branch managers and UC branch staff should only see customers...

The branch requirement combines vertical management access with geographic isolation. The role hierarchy should model the branch reporting structure so branch managers inherit the records available to branch staff, while sharing rules provide controlled exceptions or horizontal access where the hierarchy alone does not express the complete requirement. This is preferable to using Account Teams record by record because the need is systematic across an entire geographic branch, not ad hoc collaboration on selected Accounts. The organization-wide default should remain restrictive enough to prevent cross-branch visibility, but among the supplied choices the combination of Role Hierarchy and sharing rules is the architecture that models both management and regional sharing requirements. The security model should be tested for users in neighboring branches to confirm that no unintended access is introduced. Study Guide reference: Access to Records - Role Hierarchy, geographic access models, sharing rules, Private baseline, branch management, and least-privilege record visibility.