Restore Empathy in Modern Business Education

Abstract

This chapter is based on the author's reflection using 27 years' experience in business education in Hong Kong and the United States and decades of research concerning empathy and character development. In this chapter, empathy is defined as a process to consider a particular perspective of another person, to feel as another person feels, and to take action for the needs of that other person. It is related to concern, perspective taking, and action through intersubjective discovery. It has developmental characteristics and includes shared experiences and insightful discoveries in the interpersonal process. She advocates these key four benefits of mature, informed, and mindful empathy: intellectual virtues, effective leadership development, ethical decision making, and social capital at firm level which ultimately enhances profitability and firm valuation. She also shares her years of practice of developing students' empathetic skills in service-learning projects and in her organization behavior course.