Contemporary strategic management provides an extensive array of methodologies and instruments, including competitive positioning models, scenario planning, the balanced scorecard, dynamic capabilities, and strategy-as-practice frameworks. The idea behind these methods is that they will help businesses deal with changes in the environment, globalization, and the rise of digital technology. In practice, however, many organizations struggle to use them effectively. Empirical studies consistently show gaps between formal strategic plans and day-to-day decisions, low implementation rates and widespread scepticism about the usefulness of sophisticated strategic frameworks. The purpose of this article is to analyse the main problems of using modern strategic methods in organizational management and to explain why the promise of contemporary strategic frameworks is often only partially realised. The study is based on a narrative review of the literature on strategic planning, competitive strategy, balanced scorecard implementations and the strategy-as-practice perspective. It synthesises findings from classic works by Porter and Mintzberg with more recent research on strategy implementation, dynamic capabilities and performance measurement systems. The results show that problems happen at four levels that are all connected: there is a conceptual mismatch between universal methods and local context, there are organizational and cultural barriers to implementation, there are information and analytical limitations, and there are structural tensions between static tools and dynamic environments. The article concludes that the primary issue is not the obsolescence of contemporary methods, but rather their de-contextualized and ceremonial application, which severs the link between formal strategy and actual managerial practice.

Strategic management, strategic methods, strategy implementation

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