Business social engagement in Latin America: The new alliance for progress?

The concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR) and corporate civil society cooperation in Latin America has been introduced in the Cartagena Conference. This movement shows significant signs of a sincere commitment resonating with critiques of business charity in the region. There are five dimensions outlined in terms of which recent developments in corporate social engagement in Latin American can usefully be assessed including proliferation, professionalization, participation, partnership, and lastly, penetration. There is a convincing evidence of proliferation and professionalization and move beyond paternalism to engage the participation of communities. Although partnership have not yet fully embraced, there are promising developments. There are also powerful and varied examples of penetration of social engagement into core business operations. These "five P's" define the corporate social engagement pyramid, where the bottom of the pyramid measures the transition from traditional business philanthropy to progressive corporate social engagement.