Patent ID: 8341068

Claim:
A computer implemented method for use in generating and evaluating ideas in an organization, said method comprising the steps of: (a) obtaining a description of an idea; (b) making the description of the idea available to a plurality of participants in the organization; (c) making a plurality of shares associated with the idea available to the participants so that the participants can trade the shares and thereby invest investment units in the idea, the shares having a price associated therewith; (d) receiving a plurality of orders from at least some of the participants, each of the orders including a request to make a trade involving at least one of the shares; and (e) completing the orders, said completing step including the step of (f) automatically determining the price of the shares associated with the idea for each of the orders using a predetermined mathematical formula, which is based at least partially on the price of the shares immediately prior to the completion of said each order, said determining step (f) being performed at the time of completing said each order, the mathematical formula being further based on the number of shares involved in said each order, the mathematical formula including a linear price-quantity function such that the price of the shares used for completing said each order is different from the price of the shares immediately prior to the completion of said each order, (g) wherein each of said obtaining step (a), said making steps (b) and (c), said receiving step (d) and said completing step (e) is performed at least partially by a computer; and (h) wherein the idea is evaluated, at least partially, based on the investment units made in the idea.