Hunger, disease, waste and poverty are often considered challenges for philanthropists, not businessmen. And yet, where there is a need, there is a market — and potentially, profit.

Finding a for-profit solution to a societal ill was the challenge presented to a group of global business executives recently at Wharton’s Aresty Institute of Executive Education . The 39 executives — from countries as diverse as Nigeria, India, Russia, South Africa and The Netherlands — took on the challenge in a business plan competition that was part of the institute’s five-week Advanced Management Program . The participants amassed a collective experience as varied as their cultural backgrounds, with expertise in fields such as oil, aerospace, finance, fashion, entertainment and HIV/AIDS education.…