Over the last few decades, Chile has experienced rapid and sustained economic, social, and institutional development. Crucial challenges remain, however, in the form of social inequity, lack of opportunity, mistrust, and social unrest. The Chilean private sector is at an inflection point in its relationship with society. The corporate sector has both contributed to and benefited from the growth and development of the last decades, but remaining social challenges pose significant constraints to the continued growth of the private sector. High levels of mistrust regarding the role of business in society reflect a widespread belief that profit making activities are merely a demonstration of corporate greed. The Chilean private sector faces a frequently antagonistic relationship with government and civil society that will likely worsen unless companies are able to find ways to authentically link their businesses to efforts to solve Chile's social problems. On the other hand, if government and civil society conclude that the private sector has no contribution to make to the country's social and economic development strategy, Chile will squander an important engine for creating shared prosperity. The good news is that there does not need to be a trade-off between private sector competitiveness and greater prosperity for all Chileans. Shared value, a concept explained in Harvard Professor Michael Porter and Mark Kramer's Harvard Business Review articles, suggests an approach for companies to increase their competitiveness and profitability by helping to solve social problems. The public sector and civil society can increase the social benefits from shared value by thoughtfully partnering with the private secto
