Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • March 2023
  • Article
  • 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
  • Format:Print
  • | Pages:25
ShareBar

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

Moral Sensibility; Business Education; Growth and Development; Teaching

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.
  • Find it at Harvard
  • Read Now
  • Purchase

About The Author

Sandra J. Sucher

General Management
→More Publications

More from the Authors

    • March 2025 (Revised March 2025)
    • Faculty Research

    Good for the Seller, Good for the Buyer and Good for Society: Sampo-yoshi, Sustainability and Trust at ITOCHU

    By: Sandra J. Sucher and Bethelehem Y Araya
    • March 2025
    • Faculty Research

    Boeing's Turbulent Trajectory: A Timeline of Compounding Crises and Broken Trust (January 2020 - September 2024)

    By: Sandra J. Sucher and Samantha N. Smith
    • March–April 2024
    • Harvard Business Review

    How Companies Should Weigh in on a Controversy: A Better Approach to Stakeholder Management

    By: David M. Bersoff, Sandra J. Sucher and Peter Tufano
More from the Authors
  • Good for the Seller, Good for the Buyer and Good for Society: Sampo-yoshi, Sustainability and Trust at ITOCHU By: Sandra J. Sucher and Bethelehem Y Araya
  • Boeing's Turbulent Trajectory: A Timeline of Compounding Crises and Broken Trust (January 2020 - September 2024) By: Sandra J. Sucher and Samantha N. Smith
  • How Companies Should Weigh in on a Controversy: A Better Approach to Stakeholder Management By: David M. Bersoff, Sandra J. Sucher and Peter Tufano
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.