When Ideologies Align: Progressive Corporate Activism and Within-Firm Ideological Alignment

Forthcoming at Strategic Management Journal

with Brayden King

This paper examines the association between ideology and firm participation in sociopolitical activism. In particular, it focuses on the ideological alignment between a firm’s upper echelons and its general employees. We theorize that participation in progressive corporate activism reflects the ideological views of both the top management team and general employees. By examining firm participation in letter campaigns supporting progressive causes, our findings indicate that ideological alignment between a top management team’s and general employees’ liberal political leanings is associated with a firm’s participation in progressive corporate activism. The CEO’s own ideological preferences do not have an independent association with this kind of activism. The paper concludes with a discussion of implications for our understanding of corporate political action and nonmarket strategy.