The past five years have seen a generational shift in the way we approach procurement. The act of buying has shifted gears from backroom to board room, from pedestrian and functional to an essential lever for strategic value creation. Much hay has been made by many people (including myself) about procurement’s transformation. The phrase “glow up” has even been thrown around by some (not including myself), with an implicit understanding that the days of staid, reactive, tactical purchasing are behind us, and we are all now hurtling towards a shining future of strategic procurement.
Talk to Benn Godfrey — who most recently served as the vice president of procurement at Rolls Royce — however, and he’ll pull the rug out from under that line of thinking. “I almost dislike the word ‘strategic’ at this point. What I mean is that it’s so overused—it starts to lose meaning and undermine understanding,” he explains. “We often undervalue things that are tactical.” Godfrey continues, noting that there can be this perception in the industry that “tactics are bad and strategy is good.” However, “in reality,” he explains, “the two are deeply intertwined.” “In the current supply chain environment, of course, you need a plan. However, an increased emphasis on ‘doing’ is just as important.” Adaptability, agility, resilience, are all critical for survival in this modern procurement milieu.
Godfrey and I sat down to explore how the balance between tactical and strategic procurement affects everything from aligning the function with the business’ goals to fostering resilience.
Tactics and strategy — Striking the balance
At its core, Godfrey explains, procurement is about problem-solving. It’s what drew him to the discipline in the first place. He explains: “You identify the problems and figure out how to fix them. Actively seeking out bigger problems to solve became an accelerator for me. Then it was about thinking: What tools do I need to solve these bigger problems?” Godfrey also highlights the usefulness of considering leverage in how to scale the solutions, categorising leverage areas as “people, time, capital and, increasingly, digital technologies”.
You can plot every business’ ability to solve problems along a maturity curve, and finding the right balance between the long term goals and shorter term tactical decisions that will help the organisation reach those targets is critical.
“The key is understanding what’s important for your business and aligning your procurement approach accordingly,” Godfrey explains. “Some organisations encourage constant experimentation, while others rely on iterative improvements to well-established standards. It’s about balancing the need for innovation with the appropriate level of control and pace.” Considering then, that tactics and strategy go hand in hand as a cyclical process over time – OODA loop or the Deming cycle – whichever model floats your boat, or flies your plane, this way of thinking has common elements, such as sensemaking within a changeable external environment, taking actions and then resetting the cycle in an iterative way which makes them relevant to today’s procurement in an uncertain world.

Navigating the supply chain
Many industries, he notes, face similar challenges when managing supply chains. Some of these are tied to common structures and complexities internally, and others are rooted in the broader economic and geopolitical context of the market — currently, worldwide concerns over incoming tariffs from the US and the Chinese government’s recent restriction of key mineral sales abroad are putting pressure on many organisations’ ability to secure the raw materials they need. Regardless of industry, Godfrey explains, “the goal is always to match the approach to the business’ needs.”
Naturally, different stakeholders will advocate for different requirements, which can affect tactical procurement in the short term and learning to talk about procurement in this new way can represent a challenging learning curve for organisations. “For example, the CFO will expect cost reductions and improved cash profiles, so you have to deliver on those fronts, but procurement obviously involves so much more—resilience, leveraging insights from external supply chains, fostering innovation, and driving sustainability,” he notes. “It’s then about talking about what you do with the money saved,’’ and as such the opportunities this enables are increasingly where value is found, but nevertheless requires an openness in communication and experimentation.
Of course, the risk of overly focusing on the short term tactics of procurement risks losing sight of longer-term objectives. However, the inverse is also true. Godfrey points to many organisations’ long-term, ambitious net zero targets — many put in place with no clear, roadmap of how to achieve them. “Back when the Paris Climate Accords were signed in 2015, there were grand net-zero targets set, and everyone had long-term strategies. But tactically, for many, it’s been harder to implement short-term action, and now many of those targets are at risk of falling apart,” he says.
Shaping procurement
Nevertheless, he still argues that “having big goals is a good thing. It inspires action, but you have to take things one step at a time and must guard against complacency as a leader.” Godfrey emphasises the need to ensure that the team is also empowered to take decisions and to act. The true role of a leader, he says, is to serve as an enabler and catalyst. Looking around at the tactical and day-to-day to see where changes can be implemented quickly is vital. “You need to build something tangible,” he stresses. “We’ve talked about sustainability, but procurement can also shape the future in other ways. Take cost reduction or relocating a global supply chain as examples. If the process seems too hard, we could give up. But the better approach is asking, ‘What can we change to make it work?’
This way of thinking can be applied across a diverse range of topics important to the procurement agenda, whether it’s supporting the next generation of talent to enter the function or shaping net zero technologies and gen AI to deliver meaningful impacts. Godfrey is keen to stress this idea by sharing examples of the work he does in supporting organisations such as the social mobility foundation, initiatives like the King’s Trust, or acting as a mentor to net-zero technology and digital startups.
Collaborative approach
Godfrey argues that, while these investments of time and effort may not offer immediate returns, they’re well worth it in the long run and that giving back experience in a collaborative manner is the way forward. “Material science and digital technologies are key areas of development for industry, especially within the context of energy transition and while not all of these innovations will succeed, one or two might just make a significant impact. This idea of building stepping stones applies not only to supplier relationships but also to people and technology.” Connecting these threads isn’t solely an altruistic act however, it also, Godfrey notes, keeps him at the forefront of developments in the supply chain – “adding to and sharpening the tools in the problem-solving tool bag’’

Resilience is more than risk management
One way in which a lot of the discourse around tactical-versus-strategic thinking in procurement flows concerns the goal of mitigating disruption. Godfrey is keen to stress, however, that tactical doesn’t always mean reactive. There’s a difference between a tactical approach to cultivating resilience and simple risk management. “The concept of resilience is far more powerful than risk management,” he explains.
“Risk management tends to focus on what could go wrong—identifying, ranking, and rating potential issues on a very long list. It’s a static, somewhat depressing exercise that’s hard to convince others of, especially when you need to justify spending time or money to prevent something that may never happen.” Resilience, on the other hand, is about sensing and anticipating what might prevent you from operating, implementing mechanisms for absorbing sudden shocks, and taking actions to adapt. “You spend time considering the impacts on the business and how to protect it,” Godfrey explains.
“In the event of a crisis—whether it’s a pandemic, a ship stuck in a canal, or war—you need mechanisms in place to remain flexible and adaptable.” Tactical, short-term capabilities and responses to immediate problems, but focused on the longer-term strategic goal of recovery and resilience, rather than simply trying to anticipate and avoid every possible form of disruption.
Optimising supply chain inventory
“It’s not about listing all the risks; it’s about developing a plan that enables you to continue operating under adverse conditions,” says Godfrey, firmly drawing the distinction. “You need to think through processes, set up adaptability, and put measures in place to manage disruptions—whatever they may be.” One of the keys where a specialised producer like Rolls Royce is concerned, Godfrey explains, is considering how to optimise supply chain inventory, where the cash is tied up and decisions on holding raw materials in their base form. “It takes longer to respond to an immediate issue, but you have effectively traded speed for increased flexibility. If you have secured nickel, for example, you can direct it where needed. Once it’s processed into a finished product, it’s locked into a single use.”
While he notes that it’s tempting to respond to shortages by increasing inventory at every point, that level of redundancy reduces agility, drives up costs, and generally isn’t feasible or practical. “Instead, build resilience into the supply chain at critical points where you can pivot quickly if needed — build a strategy that lets you respond tactically,” he says.
The future of procurement demands tactics and strategy
The pace of change in procurement and supply chain management feels faster now, Godfrey reflects, largely because of the influence of modern technology. “Technology accelerates information flows and amplifies perceptions,” he adds. Godfrey also notes that recent global events may have felt era-defining, each driving change and challenging assumptions in its own way: “Procurement processes have had to become more agile and responsive, leveraging automation and building flexibility into supply chains. The goal is for supply chains to bend rather than break under stress.” Sacrificing lean speed for the ability to change; learning to respond to any problem rather than trying to avoid every problem; resilience and adaptability are what will set successful supply chains apart from those that fail.
However, while these events have prompted some to accelerate shifts in procurement practices, they’ve also highlighted the need for more considered, balanced responses. “You have to have the long term vision and the tactical short term understanding coupled with a bias for action,” he says, it is important at the same time not to over-correct in response to a shortage or perception of risk thus exacerbating the overall effect within a market. One step at a time towards the future. “Do what you can with what you have, wherever you are. It’s a quote from Theodore Roosevelt which sounds obvious, but it’s powerful. Whenever I’m stuck, that’s the mindset I return to: we know where we want to go, but what can we do right now? What’s the first step we can take?”