The critical need for coverage of quality decision making in professional and management education

Purpose – The paper seeks to explain the need for inclusion of a segment on criteria for decision quality in management and leadership education and in management development programs. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides a conceptual base for the use of criteria to achieve high‐quality decisions. It explains the two aspects of all decisions (technical and leadership/management) and discusses some examples of research into a limited set of criteria and then offers an overview of a comprehensive set of criteria. Findings – The paper expands on conclusions from previous work by providing solid reasons for the use of decision criteria. Research limitations/implications – The paper points to the need for extensive research to validate the criteria and offers specific suggestions on research objectives. Practical implications – The use of comprehensive criteria for the management/leadership aspects of decisions can significantly improve the quality of decisions in work situations, and also in many family and other private life situations. Originality/value – In addition to the criteria themselves, a major value of the paper is the emphasis on the importance of recognizing that there are two aspects to all decisions and that comprehensive criteria for the technical decisions are provided by education and training in all fields and disciplines, while none are provided in management and leadership programs.