MIT Sloan Management Review Article on Building Effective Corporate Engagement on LGBTQ Rights

Companies supportive of LGBTQ employees and political policy have found that there is gold at the end of the equal-rights rainbow.

Some company leaders still worry that engaging on LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) rights will invite criticism. Traditional wisdom suggests that addressing a still divisive subject may alienate those against same-sex marriage and other LGBTQ issues. The fear is that if enough customers, employees, or investors take offense, they could initiate boycotts, quit their jobs, or sell their shares, harming the company’s financial performance in the process.

Despite the risks, some global companies are making demonstrated efforts to support LGBTQ employees and issues. Major players are unabashedly out in their support for LGBTQ-friendly workplaces and laws.

About the Author

Debbie Haski-Leventhal (@debbiehaski) is a professor of management at Macquarie University. She’s the author of Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility: Tools and Theories for Responsible Management (Sage Publications Ltd., 2018). Daniel Korschun (@danielkorschun) is an associate professor at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business and a 2018 Fulbright Scholar who specializes in corporate political activism.

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