Paper available here: https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4285680

The conclusion of the paper is that middle managers are using wokeness as a weapon to amass power within the corporate structure:

We suggest that middle managers have played a critical role in promoting corporate wokeness because they have been particularly likely to possess the ability, opportunity, and motivation to do so. First, executives may delegate initiative related to woke causes to middle managers, not only because executives usually lack expertise, but also as a form of “insurance” against claims they are insufficiently committed to wokeness. Second, middle-managers may push woke agendas that increase their authority or span of control (Pfeffer & Fong, 2005), for example by positioning DEI initiatives as natural HR functions that are essential to managing a division or a function. Third, middle managers may also call out “woke-washing” (i.e., claims that the firm is supporting progressive causes externally but not taking them seriously internally), thus contributing to the creation of a woke internal culture, which again may be beneficial for instrumental as well as normative reasons, but also bolsters the internal power of these managers.

Underlying this are factors that create an environment for it: (1) some owners, executives, managers, and workers are true believers who push the woke agenda within the corporation, (2) managers want to "get ahead of" where they see the winds blowing so they can boost their status, (3) external pressure, even if objectively weak, can be exaggerated and used as an excuse to act by these managers.

Why do top managers support the introduction of woke practices and behaviors by middle managers? We highlight the roles of middle manager delegation, network position, and motivation.13 We argue that these three factors have complementary effects on internal advocacy: delegation confers control (Aghion & Tirole, 1997) over information channels between internal and external networks (Soda et al., 2018), and such control allows middle managers to become entrenched. In the context of woke policies, middle managers have specialized knowledge, may control critical aspects of the firm’s internal and external communications, and are often shielded from effective internal review due to the lack of metrics for woke performance. Embracing wokeness can thus provide authority, job security, and career opportunities.

I would add that once wokeness gets entrenched, you end up with a cult-like race to the bottom, where managers fear not being woke enough will expose them to attack, whereas it is impossible to be "too" woke, thus there is a race to maximally signal woke virtue and prove that you have the strongest woke bonafides. Since woke ideology preaches that women, LGBTs, and nonwhites have privileged status, these people have an extra incentive to push woke ideology, AND they have been dominating middle management thanks to decades of affirmative action.