Karaktärer och cases : skönlitteratur inom ledarskapsutbildning

Sammanfattning: The aim for my thesis has been to investigate how literature, or fiction, is used in management education. What books are used – is there a literary leadership canon? What do the educators and the writers on this subject suggest that these books can teach the leaders? What are the philosophical foundations of this education? And – last but not least – does what the educators and writers offer respond to the needs of the businesses? My investigation shows that there is a canon in the area of management and fiction, where realistic 19th century novels, alongside with Shakespeare’s plays are dominant. Female writers and non-western writers are very underrepresented. The positive outcomes of reading and discussing these literary works that the educators and writers suggest do substantially correspond with the needs of the businesses, as presented by my sources. I have identified the field of using fiction in management education as divided in two parts, where one focuses on the reader’s development of character and the other one suggests that fiction could be used as business cases. The professor of philosophy, Martha C. Nussbaum is influential, and represents a view that almost all of my sources agree on: fiction can help people develop skills that are useful to themselves as individuals, and as members of (a democratic) society. So, do leaders need to read? My conclusion is that it certainly helps, if they want to improve the ability to understand and connect with others. I sum up this investigation with a humble suggestion for a model for using fiction in management education.