Social and political alignment in tech acquisitions

Most vendors have mission statements which summarize their corporate values. These mission statements talk about customers and employees, and a few go further to discuss environmental and societal positions. Some extend this to a vision, not only of the future of the company, but also its role in society and the environment. And some vendors turn their corporate values into much more than mission statements, with very active social programs, and very active political engagement.

While this occurs across industry segments, it seems to be especially true of technology providers, where many companies are very active socially and politically.

As a buyer of technology, does it matter that the corporate values of a potential provider or its leaders don’t match the values of my company, its leaders, or its owners? What if the political positions taken, including the politicians they support with contributions, are diametrically opposed to the values of my company? Should the social and political activities of a technology provider be part of the assessment of that provider? In other words, should social and political alignment between a potential provider and my company be on every RFP?

I understand that this is a very prickly topic, but with so many technology providers becoming extensively involved in social topics and backing particular politicians or political parties, I think it is a question that should be addressed.

What do you think?