1. A method for processing an electronic document by one or more computer network components having network addresses in a computer network, the method comprising the steps of: identifying a plurality of approval items requiring status manipulation operations within the electronic document; grouping together the approval items to form one or more approval objects based on the properties of the approval items; associating each approval object with one or more computer network components based on the properties of the approval object; and routing each approval object to the network addresses of the associated computer network components for status manipulation processing.