BOARD POLITICAL IDEOLOGY POLARIZATION AND THE RESOLUTION OF SOCIAL ACTIVISM

Given increasingly polarized political environments around the world, we consider how the polarization of political ideologies among corporate leaders shapes organizational decisions and actions. Contrary to trends in the political realm and society at large, where political ideology polarization acts as a source of division, our theory and findings suggest that political ideology polarization among directors will enhance the board's information-processing capacity and increase its ability to respond to social activism. However, the positive effects of polarization are also subject to the influence of important contextual factors; namely, CEO power, organizational diversification, and the competitive intensity of the organization's industry.