Moral Value Of Literary Fiction

The Moral Value of Literary Fiction to Business

Understanding stories and the characters within them is one way in which we make moral sense of business life (Michaelson, 2005). Even with the various criticisms of length and impracticalness, literary fiction provides moral value to business by supporting the development of a strong moral code, elevating the moral imagination, depicting potential outcomes, and progressing self-knowledge. Literary fiction also provides moral value by introducing a multi-faceted perspective of business ethics and growing emotional intelligence.

Using narrative forms to explore moral business dilemmas allows individuals to develop a stronger moral code of ethics (Badaracco, 2006). Badaracco illustrates how literature

This “moral imagination” is the missing element in many instances of managerial or corporate wrongdoing, as many corporate wrongdoers did not adequately visualize the harm that would result from their misbehavior (Michaelson, 2005). Michaelson (2005) describes that as moral imagination pertains to business, ethical business behavior depends on the ability to rise above what is merely convenient or expected to conceive of and potentially act upon creative alternatives. Thus, broadening moral imagination may improve moral decision-making by allowing us to discover other behavioral options (Michaelson, 2005). If literature elevates our moral imagination, and moral imagination opens up new behavioral possibilities that enable us to act on moral intentions, then literature can bring about moral improvement (Michaelson,

Grappling with questions of character allow people to gain a deeper understanding of themselves (Badarraco 5). This self-knowledge develops clarity about who one is, often critical to enabling leaders to do their work and meet their responsibilities (Badarraco 5). According to Badarraco (2006), benefits of this self- knowledge include enabling better judgements about oneself and others, and helping leaders stay on course by sustaining commitments and guiding personal reflection. Clardy (2007) also describes that by studying stories, leaders attain self-knowledge and self-awareness and by knowing themselves better they improve character and decision-making capabilities for