Supervisory program

A supervisory program is a computer program, usually part of an operating system, that controls the execution of other routines and regulates work scheduling, input-output operations, error actions, and similar functions and regulates the flow of work in a data processing system.

It can also refer to a program that allocates computer component space and schedules computer events by task queuing and system interrupts. Control of the system is returned to the supervisory program frequently enough to ensure that demands on the system are met.

Source: from Federal Standard 1037C and from MIL-STD-188