Strategic Management: Theoretical Evolution, Core Frameworks, And Contemporary Frontiers

Abstract

Strategic management research has evolved through multiple theoretical perspectives that offer complementary explanations of how firms create, capture, and renew competitive advantage. This study provides an integrative thematic review of the field’s intellectual development, focusing on the transition from the design and positioning schools to the resource-based view, dynamic capabilities, and contemporary approaches centred on artificial intelligence, digital transformation, platform ecosystems, and sustainability. The review draws on searches conducted in Scopus and Web of Science covering peer-reviewed articles, books, and book chapters published between 1959 and mid-2026. Approximately 340 records were screened, of which 26 theoretically central and directly relevant sources were retained for thematic synthesis. The findings indicate that industry positioning, firm-specific resources, and dynamic capabilities should not be treated as competing explanations of superior performance. Rather, they form an interconnected system in which firms identify attractive competitive positions, deploy valuable and difficult-to-imitate resources, and continuously reconfigure those resources as environmental conditions change. Building on this synthesis, the study identifies three increasingly prominent frontiers AI-enabled strategic decision-making, ecosystem-based digital competition, and ESG-oriented strategy and explains how they extend established theories of competitive advantage. The review contributes by presenting an integrative framework that links external positioning, internal resource orchestration, and strategic renewal, while outlining research questions concerning AI governance, ecosystem dependence, digital capability development, and the conditions under which sustainability capabilities generate durable advantage.