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This paper suggests guidelines that are likely to significantly enhance a large proportion of those decisions that impact on the quality of management and leadership. Their use is illustrated with an analysis of a scenario that involves the development of a program for scanning data to reduce IT input costs. The case also raises an ethical issue. The guidelines are conceptually similar to the way the scientific and applied disciplines provide actionable foundations for theories. They can help those managers, who embrace them, acquire greater competence as managers and as leaders.

No matter what the organization's activity, or country, the better the decisions of its managers and leaders, the more likely that the organization will thrive.

This paper is intended to offer a practical perspective on how to achieve high quality of decisions.

The paper uses an inductive approach by looking at all the issues that deserve consideration in one or more of the steps in the decision‐making process to ensure that none are overlooked that are relevant to the respective decision. It suggests eight guidelines for decision‐makers for this purpose. The guidelines apply primarily to the non‐technical (soft) aspects of decisions.

Eight guidelines are described. When considered in every significant decision they will bring considerable assurance that the outcome of the decision will be as close as possible to the desired one. The primary conclusion is that development of the habit to use guidelines, either those provided by the paper, or similarly comprehensive ones, help to ensure high quality decisions because they help the decision maker ensure that few if any relevant issues are ignored.

The practical implications of the regular use of meaningful guidelines lies with the decision quality they enhance.

Better decisions throughout society.

Unique approach to ensuring highest possible quality of decisions.

To provide an explanation of an approach to education and development for leadership in organizations, as distinct from education about leadership.

The paper refers to leadership in private as well as public organizations and organizational units, to all types of managers including those of non‐supervisory functions affecting stakeholders, and even to personal affairs. It suggests a decision‐assisting model based on the issues that should be considered in decisions pertaining to matters involving leadership roles. It is based on three foundations: comparison of decision‐making practices involving leadership aspects of management with decision making in other professional fields; analysis of the actual and potential impact of leadership and motivation theories on leadership decisions; and responsibilities involved in effectively applying leadership to management activities in all fields.

The paper reports on the informal research process that resulted in the development of the model.

Extensive possible research is outlined that could gradually overcome the enormous obstacles to empirical validation of the model.

The model is relatively simple, consisting of eight groups of considerations, in the form of questions that help to ensure that leadership decisions consider all relevant issues. The approach outlined here is highly practical and can easily be applied.

The model is unique and highly practical for all individuals who are in management and for those who are called on to assume leadership roles on teams, in their profession, in their family roles, and in other situations.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the meaning, significance, and development, of common sense and to suggest an approach for enhancing it.

Literature review and critical analysis of the way greater skill in decision‐making leads to “better” common sense.

In light of the very limited coverage of common sense development in the literature, this paper may make a contribution to the awareness of the dimensions of common sense and to approaches that can help individuals develop what might be more appropriate decisions based on common sense – decisions that consider more of the relevant issues.

Individuals – managers and leaders in all work and home activities – can enhance their common sense, and with it their decisions, by developing the habit of following the guidelines suggested by the paper, or equally appropriate ones.

There does not appear to be anything as practically applicable to common sense development as the suggested approach

How can management education and development provide a better foundation for managers and prospective managers so they will be more competent as leaders? That is the persistent question as is evidenced in Porter and McKibbin (1988), in articles in AACSB’s newest magazine Business Education, and in the Academy of Management’s new journal Learning and Education.

Suggests that for improving the quality of management/leadership in an organization, there is nothing more powerful than the appropriateness of participation in decision making. Details the concept of appropriate participation in decision making and planning and its likely impact. Discusses the issues in participation and management/leadership and concludes with some basic management/leadership guidelines.

Leadership skills of managers in service organizations can contribute significantly to quality of service. Fortunately there is a fairly easy road to enhancing them. It is based on asking three key questions with great depth of meaning, with every decision. These questions remind of all the leadership considerations that should enter the decision, in addition to the functional ones. The questions are illustrated and analyzed with a relevant, realistic scenario.

This paper suggests that competency‐based, outcome‐focused management development and education programs might benefit from redirecting the non‐technical subjects away from emphasis on theories and skills, to emphasis on the decisions which managers have to make. To do this effectively, there is a need for defining the types of decisions, for organizing the knowledge and skills for making these decisions, and for a model that permits a pedagogically sound process for learning the many concepts that have to be mastered. In addition to the paper, the Peernet reviewer’s comments are provided, as well as a response to them.

Explores the authors’ suggestion for creating a bridge between management/leadership theory and practical application. The suggestion rests on six foundations: non‐prescriptive starter guidelines which users adapt to their personal style or use as foundation for guidelines of their own; a comprehensive model of management/leadership which rests on three pillars: the organization’s need for control (or co‐ordination), competence (of all stakeholders) and climate; emphasis on the two separate aspects of every managerial decision ‐ the functional and the management/leadership considerations; the distinction between goals and action steps which has fairly significant implications for the motivational ambience; the application of the distinction between importance and urgency to goal selection and priority setting; and the separation of needs, in Maslow’s Hierarchy, into those which can be satisfied with psychological rewards and those which require tangible rewards.