Developing Dynamic Moral Capacities in Business Ethics Education: Extending the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) Framework

Cathrine Borgen; Magne Supphellen

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Developing Dynamic Moral Capacities in Business Ethics Education: Extending the Giving Voice to Values (GVV) Framework

Cathrine Borgen

Hauge School of Management, NLA University College, Norway

Magne Supphellen

Norwegian School of Economics (NHH), Norway

Volume 20: 2023 pp. 33-50: ABSTRACT

Business ethics education aims to enable students to become conscious of their own values and develop the capacity to voice such values and make value-consistent decisions. However, a student’s personal values and the capacity to act on them tend to change after graduation. In this study, we discuss how moral learning is different in real work life compared to a business school setting, and we explain why graduates may downplay or abandon their values after graduation. We launch the concept of dynamic moral capacity (DMC), defined as the metacognitive routines for processing moral decision outcomes, motivated by humility goals. We suggest that future courses in business ethics develop DMC to avoid value drift and negative moral learning over time after graduation. Finally, we discuss how DMC can be included in the instructional framework of giving voice to values and thus increase its impact on moral learning after graduation.
Keywords: moral learning, giving voice to values, business ethics education, dynamic moral capacity, humility, meta-cognition