Abstract: In one preferred implementation, a business rules engine optimizes staffing decisions by accepting as inputs top-down constraint as well as bottom-up constraint rules to dynamically determine short to medium term optimal staffing patterns. The business rules engine of this embodiment optionally utilizes a Holt-Winters algorithm which factors in both seasonal and annualized trend information. In certain embodiments, the business rules engine is able to more accurately estimate necessary minimum staffing based on business constraints at both the strategic and operations levels. For instance, strategic (top-down) factors may include intentional overstaffing of stores during certain time periods or in certain key geographic regions, sales forecasts, aggregate margin enhancement, etc. Operational (bottom-up) factors can, in selected embodiments, include time-to-unload, time-to-stock, product throughput and related factors.