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This report is available for download in English and Spanish. Este reportes se encuentra disponible para descargar en español y en inglés.
Despite decades of economic growth that raised millions of Chileans out of poverty and brought prosperity to Chile’s leading businesses, significant social challenges remain. There is great inequity in Chilean society, and the Chilean people increasingly view companies with suspicion. Chilean companies now have a unique opportunity to increase their competitiveness and decrease social tensions by adopting a shared value approach—discovering new business opportunities in helping to solve social problems.
Top Takeaways
- A few Chilean companies have started recognizing the opportunities that shared value represents, but many additional possibilities exist. Three compelling opportunities with the potential to have a powerful impact on poverty, education, and health are: a) increasing micro, small, and medium enterprise competitiveness; b) bridging the skills gap that Chilean companies face; and c) promoting healthy lifestyles to decrease obesity.
- The Chilean private sector must take the lead in developing shared value opportunities, starting by identifying links between social problems and business opportunities and by building strong business cases for shared value initiatives that take advantage of these links.
- Chilean government agencies can help accelerate the adoption and implementation of shared value by convening key players, serving as an operating partner, improving the risk/return profile of shared value strategies, and creating a supportive regulatory environment.
The role of business in society is a subject of national debate in Chile. Shared value needs to be a major part of the conversation. If debate can shift from redistribution to social value creation, Chile will prosper in every sense of the word.
Michael E. Porter
