In this article, we offer a theory of firm-driven political polarization that explains how firms intensify societal political polarization through ideological homogenization processes inside firms. Drawing from research on corporate sociopolitical activism and ideologies in and around organizations, we develop a conceptual framework that describes how firms taking public stances on contentious social issues triggers divergent processes in stakeholders connected to the firm: ideology threat and ideology affirmation. These processes engender distinct organizational and individual outcomes in ideologically aligned and misaligned stakeholders that promote ideological homogeneity inside firms. We then theorize how ideological homogeneity works to intensify societal polarization through group polarization and echo chamber effects. We describe the implications of our theorizing for research on corporate sociopolitical activism, ideologies in organizations, and political polarization.
