Lindsey Godwin
Case Weatherhead School of Management
| Abstract: |
Despite the attention given to recent corporate scandals, there are many examples of business organizations that act to promote mutual benefit for both the company and wider society. These examples remind us that in addition to understanding why some leaders make such poor moral decisions, it is just as important to ask why others make such good moral decisions. Building on the work of Johnson (1993), Werhane (1999), and others, I argue that one critical issue is a better understanding of what constitutes and fosters business leaders’ moral imagination. I begin by reviewing moral imagination as a theoretical construct, including its definitional elements such as moral awareness, moral development, creativity, and empathy. Drawing upon prior research for each of these sub-constructs, I propose a multivariate model of factors that impact an individual’s capacity for moral imagination and propositions for future research. I conclude with a discussion on the implications of such research for leadership development and management education. |
| Author Note: | This paper represents a work very much in progress. I am at the beginning of hopefully a long career aimed at exploring moral imagination in organizational decision-making and this paper is my first exploration of this exciting concept. My aim is to begin to create a theoretical model of moral imagination that we can empirically test through future research. As such, I welcome any feedback on my model, and would appreciate suggestions for other constructs which are not currently included, but that may be important factors to consider as I begin empirical explorations of moral imagination. Are there bodies of literature or seminal articles that I do not reference, but should? Finally, it would be particularly helpful if readers have suggestions for existing measures that could be used to measure moral imagination – or ideas for new measures. Thank you in advance for any feedback you might have! |
| Citation: | Godwin, L. (2006). Creating Mutual Beneficial Possibilities: Theorizing Factors that Impact an Individual’s Capacity for Moral Imagination. BAWB Interactive Working Paper Series 1(1), pp. 32-46. http://worldbenefit.case.edu/research/paperseries/?p=20. |