Four papers generated by a broader study of issues management in three suburban Chicago school districts are collected here. "Achieving Routine" focuses on the effective routinization of organizational change, in this case a curriculum decision, through the use of administrative mechanisms and the conceptual linkage of the new to established concepts. An analysis of speeches explores a superintendent's development of the substantive aspect of the issue. "Discovering Strategic Patterns from Documentary Evidence" offers "mental mapping" of causal statements in 73 speeches by a superintendent as evidence about the way in which a key figure interprets issues over time and attempts to influence others to make similar interpretations. "Situation Interpretation, Leader Behavior, and Effectiveness" applies Steven Toulmin's content analysis, which approaches a leader's statements about decisions as a series of arguments. One superintendent's problem reformulation and decision framing are investigated through analysis of 14 interviews. "Toward an Interactive Model of the Natural and Rational Aspects of Accounting in Its Organizational Context" interprets the uses of accounting analysis in two case studies of problem-solving processes in order to discuss an interaction of rational and natural systems of organizational life. (MJL)