Strategic vs Tactical Procurement: When to Use Each Approach

While we’re seeing some moderation in inflation, prices are still significantly higher in most cases. Coupled with budget cutbacks, it makes procurement more challenging than ever.

Consider this: The University of California has one of the largest university systems in the country, with 10 campuses and nearly 300,000 students. In a 2025 survey of UC’s suppliers, 60% forecast increased prices, price volatility, and long-term price escalation, citing tariff concerns and supply chain worries.

Overcoming such challenges requires both tactical and strategic procurement. While the two are often viewed as separate or even competing, they are in fact complementary. The key is knowing when to use each and how procurement strategic planning ties them together.

What Is Tactical Procurement?

Tactical procurement is the short-term, transactional side of purchasing. It focuses on fulfilling immediate needs efficiently and accurately.

Examples of tactical procurement include:

  • Issuing purchase orders and managing invoices
  • Restocking office supplies, lab materials, and classroom equipment
  • Handling emergency repairs and expedited shipments
  • Managing day-to-day supplier communications

 

What Is Strategic Procurement?

Strategic procurement takes a broader, long-term view. Rather than focusing only on cost and speed, it aligns procurement activities with institutional goals and mission.

Examples of strategic procurement include:

  • Building long-term supplier partnerships that encourage innovation
  • Negotiating contracts for greatest value over time
  • Consolidating suppliers to reduce costs and simplify compliance
  • Prioritizing supplier inclusivity and sustainability

 

This requires a more holistic and centralized approach, and that’s exactly what’s happening on campuses across the country. A 2025 Deloitte survey shows that centralizing functions and reducing redundancies are top-of-mind for academic systems and growing in importance. While these have also been goals, they’ve become mission-critical now.

Embracing procurement strategic planning also requires diving into the data and analyzing spending to find new opportunities to lower costs and align with institutional goals.

Why Procurement Strategic Planning Requires Both

Effective procurement leadership means balancing both approaches. Tactical procurement keeps the institution running, while strategic procurement ensures long-term resilience.

For example:

  • Tactical procurement ensures lab supplies arrive before a semester starts.
  • Strategic procurement secures multi-year agreements with suppliers that align with sustainability and compliance goals.

 

Procurement strategic planning weaves these approaches together, ensuring that urgent needs are met without sacrificing future value. For example, a strategic spend assessment can provide the visibility to strike the right balance. You might find that spend data shows heavy reliance on one-off purchases that could be consolidated under a strategic contract, unlocking greater savings while still meeting immediate needs.

Strategic vs Tactical Procurement: When to Use Each Approach

Procurement teams should apply each approach based on context. Here are a few examples of when strategic vs tactical procurement can be applied.

 

Tactical Procurement

Strategic Procurement

Routine Purchases

Office supplies, janitorial products, or recurring lab consumables

Supplier consolidation to streamline recurring purchases

Urgent Needs

Emergency HVAC repair or last-minute textbook order

Pre-negotiated contracts with suppliers to anticipate urgent needs

Technology Adoption

Buying laptops or software licenses for immediate semester use

Long-term EdTech strategy including lifecycle management and supplier partnerships

Compliance and Risk

Following policy in everyday transactions

Embedding compliance clauses in supplier contracts to mitigate long-term risk

Sustainability

Purchasing eco-friendly paper for one semester

Multi-year sustainability-focused sourcing for facilities, energy, and dining services

Blending Strategic and Tactical Procurement in Education

The most successful procurement programs are not purely tactical or purely strategic; they integrate both. By blending the two approaches, you can:

  • Streamline tactical purchasing with digital tools, such as eProcurement platforms.
  • Free up staff time to focus on higher-value strategic initiatives.
  • Use cooperative contracts to simplify day-to-day transactions while advancing long-term objectives.
  • Ensure procurement is both responsive to immediate needs and aligned with institutional mission.

The right balance can help you become a leader in helping your institution overcome current and future budget challenges.

Here’s a specific example.

As academic institutions modernize systems to stay current and provide students with the technology and tools they’ll need post-graduation, IT infrastructure and device procurement are becoming more important than ever.  Strategic vs tactical procurement can make a big difference in avoiding costly mistakes.

The tactical side involves purchasing laptops and software licenses so students have the tools they need at the start of the semester. The strategic side involves negotiating multi-year agreements with EdTech providers that include technical support and upgrades so students and staff don’t fall behind as technology advances. Together, tactical and strategic procurement can equip institutions with the tools they need right now while taking into account future needs.

Meeting Budget and Long-Term Goals

When comparing strategic vs tactical procurement, it’s not a question of which is better. Each plays a distinct and necessary role in meeting budget constraints and balancing long-term goals.

Discover where your institution can better balance tactical execution with strategic planning. Request a no-cost Strategic Spend Assessment (SSA) from E&I Cooperative Services to uncover savings and optimize procurement.

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