Economic growth, favorable demographic trends, and lower costs have driven companies to invest in the developing world. Although some firms have made advances in formulating core-business-aligned strategies for tackling the development challenges that these countries often face, there is a lack of widely agreed and disseminated best practices for business in support of development and efforts to date have mostly occurred in isolation.

Based on a symposium convened in Chicago on May 15-16, 2008 and organized by GMF, the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, the Initiative for Global Development, and Business Action for Africa, this policy brief seeks to inform the wider business and development communities about the challenges and opportunities of pursuing long-term development objectives in business strategies. It aims to contribute to greater knowledge in this field through a robust transatlantic dialogue.