Esteban,
The tool you seek is a spreadsheet.
As you stated (but most respondees missed) you are not seeking a project
management tool but a resource allocation and scheduling tool. You are
seeking help with deciding what pattern of resource deployment is
preferable. I suspect that you are faced with several alternatives (which
explode into hundreds of decisions) thus feeling the need for a little
automation. The good old Mark I brain needs help.
The underlying model is decision analysis or decision trees. The user
inputs are Options, Potential Outcomes, Utility of Outcome, and Resources.
Both PO and UO may be dependent on level of R. Accordingly, the decision
process is dynamic programming.
A spreadsheet won't do all the dynamic programming calculations for you but
will get you started on specifying O, PO, UO and R and their
interrelations. Once you have those data in view, most any good professor
of management can run a dynamic programming software package for you.
Jack Ring
Innovation Management
32712 N. 70th St., Snottsdale, AZ 85262-7143
Office) 480-488-4615, Cell) 602.369.4615, Fax) 480-488-4616
"The secret of success is changing the way you think.-- Jack Welch, CEO,
General Electric