A system and a process for combining document management and issue management with a hierarchical set of process steps in a unified context is described. A virtual foldering system provides a basic container for documents, issues, process steps, and other components. Each process step (or "task") is a virtual folder, which can contain contents and other process steps, thus resulting in a hierarchical definition of the overall process and content. The hierarchy of components may be described in extended markup language ("XML") and then deployed into a relational database management system ("RDBMS"), where it is used to define the structure of a process-driven application. Access control and personalization for users are provided through a permissions scheme that is based on user groups, roles, and organizations. Users are only presented with their assigned tasks and issues, as well as other portions of the process they need to be aware of. Associations provide linkage of components across contexts and thus sharing of information among activities and between groups. In addition, a formula-based calculation engine provides simplified access to information for integrated reporting and definition of custom business logic.