Abstract: A system generates and retrieves relevant electronic information required by a user initiating an electronic search on the system. The system comprises a user-interactive search engine and a knowledge database, which stores knowledge information that is formatted. Additionally, the system includes a plurality of functional software modules that enables a user to complete an interactive search and find a solution to a task based on entered context information and keywords. A list of keywords is displayed to the user and the user selects those keywords that are relevant to the solution desired. The search engine looks for the articles containing the identified keywords. If no article is found with the search terms, the search is expanded to the Internet. The user may then modify the information returned from the Internet, format the information and save the information as a new recipe.

Abstract: A method for managing a usage cost of an asset. A user component of a business entity may access the asset after the asset has been developed by a development component of the business entity, wherein the user component receives compensation from a compensator in response to the user component having incurred a usage burden from using the asset, and wherein the compensator may have contributed to the usage burden. Alternatively, a user component of a second business entity may access an asset after the asset is developed by a development component of a first business entity, wherein second business entity receives compensation from the first business entity in response to the user component having incurred a usage burden from using the asset. The compensation has a magnitude that is a function of the usage burden. The asset may be a software application.

Abstract: A method and system for analyzing impact of change in an organizational entity. A graph H includes nets, nodes of the nets, edges connecting the nodes, and edge weights for the edges. The edge weights denote changes in some nodes resulting from changes in other nodes. For a given set Z of nodes A and for each node B characterized by a set S of at least one path of edges connecting nodes of H from node A to node B for each node A of Z, a measure M(Z,B) of a change in node B resulting from a change in each node A of Z is determined. M(Z,B) is a function of the edge weights in each path of S. Each node B of H is displayed via a graphical representation G(B) assigned to each node B. G(B) is a function of M(Z,B).