Developing moral muscle in a literature-based business ethics course

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 stu- dents’ subjective involvement in moral matters. In this case study, we investigated subjec- tive 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 eluci- dated 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 prac- tice. Additionally, the development of moral muscle during the course showed heteroge- neity 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.