The Strategic Wantedness Test
Earn operating legitimacy by solving a priority the host country truly values
- Difficulty
- Advanced
- Time to result
- ~ongoing to results
- Steps
- 5
- Confidence
- 91%
The Strategic Wantedness Test treats difficult-market access as a question of mutual strategic value rather than contracts alone. First, determine what the host country genuinely wants—such as investment, modernization, production growth, employment, or international credibility. Then design the venture so its operations produce those outcomes visibly and at meaningful scale. Strong local partners help the organization interpret conditions and navigate institutions without abandoning its operating standards. Because political systems change, wantedness must be reviewed continuously rather than assumed from an initial agreement. The output is a practical judgment about whether the company has enough legitimacy, relevance, and stakeholder support to sustain operations when formal protections prove unreliable.
Origin
Extracted from Masters in Business through Lord Browne's account of building TNK-BP and operating in Russia.
Core principles
- 01Strategic value creates room to operate
- 02Local priorities matter more than outsider assumptions
- 03Scale and capable partners strengthen legitimacy
- 04Political and institutional conditions change over time
- 05Commercial success cannot compensate for being unwanted
How to run it
- 1
Map the host's priorities
Identify the economic, political, and institutional outcomes the host country most urgently wants. Separate stated policy from priorities demonstrated through actual decisions.
Pro tip Look for needs that senior decision-makers repeat consistently, such as modernization or foreign-investment credibility.
Watch out Do not assume that signing a contract means the project remains strategically wanted.
- 2
Define your contribution
Specify how the venture will advance those priorities through measurable outputs such as investment, production, technology transfer, or jobs.
Pro tip Frame the contribution in the host country's terms rather than your corporate language.
Watch out A marginal or purely extractive contribution provides little protection when conditions deteriorate.
- 3
Build credible scale
Commit enough resources and operational capability for the venture to matter. Strategic relevance increases when success is visible and difficult to replace.
Pro tip Choose a few outcomes that can be reported regularly to key stakeholders.
Watch out Scale does not excuse corruption, misconduct, or abandoning company standards.
- 4
Select capable partners
Work with local partners who contribute operational competence, institutional understanding, and aligned incentives. Define ownership and decision rights explicitly.
Pro tip Test how partners behave during disagreements before expanding the relationship.
Watch out Political access without operating competence can create dependency rather than resilience.
- 5
Revalidate wantedness
Monitor changes in leadership, law, public sentiment, and national priorities. Adjust or exit when the strategic value proposition no longer holds.
Pro tip Include wantedness as a recurring board-level risk review.
Watch out Past support is not proof of future permission to operate.
In the wild
BP combined contemporary technology, modern management, substantial foreign investment, and local partners to improve Russian oil and gas assets that had declined under Soviet management. The venture gave national leaders evidence of growth and modernization while giving BP access to valuable resources.
→ The company sustained a large operation in a difficult institutional environment and grew the assets.
Common mistakes
Treating contracts as sufficient
Formal agreements offer limited protection when institutions or political priorities change. Strategic legitimacy must exist alongside legal rights.
Misreading what the country wants
A company can solve the wrong problem because it projects its own priorities onto local stakeholders. Wantedness must be grounded in observed national decisions.
Relying only on political connections
Access without operational value or capable partners creates fragility. The venture must produce outcomes the country would genuinely miss.
Is it for you?
Best for
It is best for companies entering politically complex, highly regulated, or institutionally unpredictable countries.
Not ideal for
It is not ideal for ordinary domestic expansion where market access depends mainly on customers and commercial execution.
From the transcript
“you have to be sure you're wanted and you're doing something that the country really wants you to do.”
“I'm growing, I'm modernizing, And BP did all those things”
“we were able to navigate a path which kept us on the straight and narrow”
From the episode
Lord Browne Discusses the Equilibrium of Engineering
Lord Browne