SRM bases its decision on two fundamental objectives:

1. To distribute system resources among individual address spaces in accordance with the installation's response, turnaround, and work priority requirements.
2. To achieve optimal use of system resources as seen from the viewpoint of system throughput.

SRM attempts to ensure optimal use of system resources by periodically monitoring and balancing resource utilization. If resources are under-utilized, SRM will attempt to increase the system load. If resources are overutilized, SRM will attempt to reduce the system load.