The never-ending organizational challenge is to allocate available resources to best achieve its goals. Out of this fundamental question several models have evolved. One is a conceptual model--a way to think about how organizations operate. A second is a statistical model estimating the magnitude of relationships among goals and elements of the organization. This article presents a third model, an optimization model building upon the other two in order to analyze various policy options by simulating "what if" situations arising in organizations. These three models are complementary rather than competing. (Contains 6 figures, 3 tables and 20 endnotes.)