Ariana Rosas

"If everybody simply says, 'I'm immovable,' nothing changes," the Aspen Institute's Michael Reszler says.

Johnson's work focuses on how institutions shape economies.

Cultural intelligence can help managers bridge political and ideological divides.

"I think the idea is to set a norm of corporate political neutrality," argues Sean Westwood of the Polarization Research Lab.

One reason companies are trying to stay on the sidelines? Threats of "go woke, go broke" business boycotts by conservatives.

What do companies actually hope to gain when they funnel money toward campaigns and political causes?

Some companies argue that unions mobilize workers around certain issues or candidates — but union leaders are often democratically elected.

"Very often, the workplace is the only place we might run into people with very different beliefs than us," noted Alison Taylor, executive director of the think tank Ethical Systems.

As political polarization in the U.S. proliferates, some companies have discouraged or banned employees from participating in political speech — with complex results.

Partisanship is "making the workplace less efficient," warns Sean Westwood, director of the Polarization Research Lab at Dartmouth College.