Strategy Under Woke Capitalism

Abstract

Companies are under increasing pressure to make their strategies and behaviors conform to broader social, cultural, and political trends. A manifestation is the recent emergence of what has been called the “woke corporation” or “woke capitalism.” Adopting an institutional perspective informed by economics and sociology, we analyze how changes in key values and beliefs among key strata of society have impacted firms’ business models, workplace organization, hiring practices, rewards, marketing, and more. We discuss first the impact of wokeism on the company’s business environment, then its effect on the company’s internal resources and organizational structure. Finally, we bring external and internal forces together, identifying conditions under which wokeism is most likely to influence company behavior.

Keywords: firm strategy, institutional theory, woke

JEL Classification: M10, M50, L20, M14, K31