Tresa Thompson Strategic Sourcing ((free)) May 2026

Instead of adversarial bidding wars, her method uses data transparency to push suppliers toward innovation. You don't beat them down on price; you invite them to solve a cost problem together. The result? Longer-term loyalty at market-competitive rates.

What stands out most is her insistence that —they are force multipliers. tresa thompson strategic sourcing

She doesn't treat all spend equally. Her quadrant model prioritizes supplier dependency over simple spend volume. If a sole-source supplier fails, Tresa’s playbook already has a "pre-negotiated" contingency plan ready to execute. Instead of adversarial bidding wars, her method uses

Strategic sourcing = 20% negotiation + 80% preparation. Longer-term loyalty at market-competitive rates

Tresa’s model argues that a cheap supplier is often the most expensive choice. She pushes teams to model logistics, quality failures, and switching costs before signing the dotted line.

Here are 3 core tenets from her approach that every sourcing professional should steal: