Why do so many organisations fail to implement their strategies?

It's one of the most important days in your organisation's recent history. After months of hard work, a new strategy has finally been unveiled.

The atmosphere is charged with pride and optimism as senior leaders and executives stand before stakeholders to present a bold vision for the future.

But beneath the general excitement lies a less encouraging reality. For all the effort that goes into formulating a strategy, evidence shows organisations often fail to deliver them successfully.

"Many organisations struggle to translate their strategies into effective action and achieve their intended outcomes," says Professor Ofer Zwikael, a management researcher at the ANU College of Business and Economics. 

Why, then, do so many organisations fall short after investing heavily in defining their future? And how can leaders ensure a strategy remains more than an aspirational document?

These are some of the questions explored in a newly published book co-edited by Ofer that draws on the contributions of 45 leading management researchers from around the world.

The Palgrave Handbook of Strategy, Change and Transformational Project Leadership offers practical insights for leaders seeking to make effective decisions.

"Much has been learned about management, organisations and projects over the last 50 years and we have identified new tools for practicing strategy and conducting research to bridge the theory and practice gap," says Ofer.

The Achilles’ heel of strategy

For many organisations, launching a new strategy feels like crossing the finish line.

Yet it is only the starting point. The real challenge lies in strategy implementation, a complex undertaking that many regard as the Achilles’ heel of the strategic process.

"Developing a strategy does not create value unless it is successfully implemented,” Ofer says.

"Senior leaders tend not to invest the same level of attention and engagement implementing strategies as they do in formulating them. Similarly, leaders who are skilled at formulating strategy do not necessarily have the skills needed to implement it.

“As a result, middle-level managers are often left to turn the strategy into action without the same level of senior leadership support or the practical tools that were available during formulation.”

This helps explain why many strategies never fully materialise.

Avoiding pitfalls, Ofer says, requires organisations to treat strategy implementation with the same discipline and rigour applied to any other project.

"Managers may see projects as being mainly about IT or product development and overlook the fact that implementing organisational strategy is itself a major project that needs to be managed accordingly," he says.

"We argue that strategy implementation should be led through business projects and programs, and our book offers a unique interdisciplinary perspective that brings these two areas together.”

Success, however, depends on more than project management. It also requires bringing employees along for the journey.

"Strategies aim to create a desired future for the organisation. Part of this process is deciding how employees will work in the future, and this future needs to be co-designed with them,” Ofer says.

"Without their full engagement in strategy implementation, the strategy is unlikely to be achieved."

A guidebook for CEOs

There is no one-size-fits-all approach to leadership.

In his book, Ofer discusses different leadership styles, arguing that none is inherently superior.

“It’s all contextual,” Ofer says. “Our research shows that the effectiveness of leadership styles depends on the situations in which they are applied.”

When organisations find themselves navigating uncertainty without immediate time pressure, Ofer suggests a transformational leadership approach can be particularly valuable.

“Transformational leaders are more open with their employees as they try to co-create the new future and must work together to achieve it,” he says.

By contrast, a more transactional style may be better suited to situations where objectives are clear and deadlines are non-negotiable.

But leadership is more than an attitude. It also involves making difficult decisions about where organisations invest their time and resources.

“Poor investment decisions can lead to sub-optimal projects being approved and ultimately to failure and wasted organisational resources,” Ofer cautions.

“Organisations need a high-quality business case for each project to ensure investment decisions are based on reliable information including estimates of cost, duration, risk and expected benefits.

One of the biggest challenges is avoiding what researchers call optimism bias.

“This happens when a leader is more optimistic about the future than they should realistically be,” Ofer says.

“In some cases, it may have positive effects, but in others it may lead to underestimating a project’s budget or the risks involved.”
 

Navigating global uncertainty

Strategy implementation has become even harder as organisations confront an uncertain world awash with technological innovation, geopolitical tensions and climate change.

Global economic policy uncertainty surged to record highs in 2025, surpassing the peaks seen during the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Global uncertainty requires organisations to keep reinventing themselves and developing new strategies that will fit the new situations,” Ofer says.

“Developing strategies is done more often than it used to be in the past and sustaining a competitive advantage is more difficult than ever.”

To stay ahead of the curve, Ofer argues, organisations must be agile.

Organisational agility is the ability of management to constantly and rapidly sense and respond to a changing environment by making strategic moves and adapting to it.

“The best organisations in the world are often achieving one temporary advantage after the other, and this gives the impression that they have done well by investing simply in one set of products and services,” he says.

As one of the world's leading project management scholars, Ofer has dedicated much of his career to understanding how managers create value. He says what continues to drive his research is the same thing that should drive organisations: impact.

“Developing a strategic plan or building a new bridge without ensuring they create a positive impact is a waste of time, resources and social capital,” he says.

“Delivering something is not the same as creating an impact. The challenge is not simply developing a good strategy, but turning it into organisational change, projects and ultimately impact.”
 

If you would like to gain a superior understanding of how strategy, change and projects can be successfully led in an uncertain world, join the book’s editors at a symposium in Canberra on 15 October. Register here.