resource allocation
Dividing limited supplies
Resource allocation is the process of distributing available assets—money, time, personnel, equipment—among competing needs or projects.
The term appears frequently in business, economics, and computing: The committee oversees resource allocation for the department.
In computing specifically, it refers to how a system assigns memory, processing power, or bandwidth to running programs.
Limiting distribution during scarcity
- shortageDeficient supply of necessities
- triageSeverity-based prioritization
- deficitAmount still owed
- austerityEnforced economic stringency
depletion · crisis · insufficiency · prioritization · competition · opportunity cost · zero-sum · budgeting
Optimization with straight-line constraints
- cost-benefit analysisSystematic comparison of advantages, disadvantages
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- trade-offExchange requiring sacrifice
- algorithmFinite problem-solving procedure
solver · feasibility · inventory control · scheduling · bottleneck · decision tree
Practical application of something
- throughputProcessing rate over time
- outputWhat something generates
- yieldProduce or relinquish
- ROIProfit-to-cost ratio
cost-effective · streamlined · lean · capacity · benchmarking · metrics · performance · input
Capable of restoration
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- long-term planningOrganizing for future goals
- intergenerationalInvolving multiple age groups
- carrying capacityPopulation an environment sustains
regenerative · circular economy · stewardship · sustainable yield · reserve funds · endowment · future-proofing · replenishment
Just and equal treatment
- redistributionSharing out again differently
- equitableJust and unbiased
- proportionalScaled to match another
- fair shareEquitable part owed
parity · accessibility · affirmative action · progressive · means-tested · underserved · marginalized · quotas
rationing
Limiting distribution during scarcity
austerity · depletion · crisis · insufficiency · prioritization · competition · opportunity cost · zero-sum · budgeting · constraints
linear programming
Optimization with straight-line constraints
- cost-benefit analysisSystematic comparison of advantages, disadvantages
- constraintLimiting condition or rule
- trade-offExchange requiring sacrifice
algorithm · solver · feasibility · inventory control · scheduling · bottleneck · decision tree
utilization
Practical application of something
- throughputProcessing rate over time
- outputWhat something generates
- yieldProduce or relinquish
ROI · cost-effective · streamlined · lean · capacity · benchmarking · metrics · performance · input · economical
renewable
Capable of restoration
- conservationPreventing waste or loss
- long-term planningOrganizing for future goals
- intergenerationalInvolving multiple age groups
carrying capacity · regenerative · circular economy · stewardship · sustainable yield · reserve funds · endowment · future-proofing · replenishment · maintenance
fairness
Just and equal treatment
- redistributionSharing out again differently
- equitableJust and unbiased
- proportionalScaled to match another
fair share · parity · accessibility · affirmative action · progressive · means-tested · underserved · marginalized · quotas · rationing
- optimizationoptimization, caching, optimum, indexing, prefetching
- disaster responsedisaster relief, search and rescue, first responders, emergency preparedness, emergency shelter
- economicssupply and demand, inflation, GDP, GNP, gross domestic product
- operationsoperation, operations, military operation, joint operation, workflow
- strategystrategy, grand strategy, tactics, tactic, tactical
- wartimerationing, war economy, war bonds, war effort, evacuations
resource allocationstockpiling
Accumulating supplies in quantity
hoarding · accumulation · withholding · waste · misallocation
resource allocationpost-scarcity
Economy without resource limits
overabundance · surplus · cornucopia · glut · plenty
resource allocationmisallocation
Improper distribution of resources
resource, resources, resourceful, allocate, allocation, resourcefulness, allocated, allocating, allocates