A computer program product for passing initiative in a multitasking multiprocessor environment includes a tangible storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method. The method includes writing a request to process a resource of the environment to an associated resource control block, setting a resource flag in a central bit vector, the resource flag indicating that a request for processing has been received for the resource, and setting a target processor initiative flag in the environment, the target processor initiative flag indicating a pass of initiative to a target processor responsible for the resource.