Publications
Publications
- March 2023
- Academy of Management Learning & Education
Developing Moral Muscle in a Literature-based Business Ethics Course
By: Inge M. Brokerhof, Sandra J. Sucher, P. Matthijs Bal, Frank Hakemulder, Paul G. W. Jansen and Omar N. Solinger
Abstract
Moral subjectivity (e.g., reflexivity, perspective-taking) is a necessary condition for moral
development. However, widely used approaches to business ethics education, rooted in
conceptualizations of ethical development as objective and quantifiable, often neglect students’
subjective involvement in moral matters. In this case study, we investigated subjective
aspects of moral development of MBA students in a business ethics course using an
alternative pedagogy based on world literature as course material. The findings elucidated
that the use of literary narratives stimulated the development of “moral muscle,” a
dynamic moral capability that needs to be developed through regular reflection and practice.
Additionally, the development of moral muscle during the course showed heterogeneity
among students with different starting positions, learning routes, and end states of
their moral development. The findings contribute to a new theoretical understanding of
moral development as a dynamic process—as moral muscle—with different individual
change trajectories, and shed new light on how the use of literary narratives in business
ethics education can stimulate this development.
Keywords
Citation
Brokerhof, Inge M., Sandra J. Sucher, P. Matthijs Bal, Frank Hakemulder, Paul G. W. Jansen, and Omar N. Solinger. "Developing Moral Muscle in a Literature-based Business Ethics Course." Academy of Management Learning & Education 22, no. 1 (March 2023): 63–87.