Hey David,
On a previous client we used Material creation and Specification Status' to provide the event necessary to create workflow tasks. Regarding Org Level/Agent Determination, we had groups split up by the materials or specs that apply to their areas of ownership based on specific data in the material/spec. It might help to fully document the current processes and see where the changes or tasks are supposed to take place and then find out where they actually take place. A lot of business collaboration is necessary with this to ensure that the users will be happy with the changes.
Hope that helps.
Nick