The phrase "an ineffective tool for" is correct and usable in written English.
It can be used when discussing the inadequacy or lack of effectiveness of a particular method, resource, or instrument in achieving a specific goal.
Example: "The new software proved to be an ineffective tool for improving our team's productivity."
Alternatives: "a poor means of" or "a useless resource for".
While calls for profiling might create a splash in the news, study after study has shown that it is an ineffective tool for keeping us safe.
They say persuasion is an ineffective tool for collecting debts, particularly since the ultimate threat, dismissal, deprives the family of income.
Moreover, Hagel's questioning of sanctions is quite right since they have proven generally to be an ineffective tool for changing state behavior – at the very least, they are certainly less effective than direct negotiations.
At the outset of this lucid survey of alternatives to warfare, the author disavows the label "pacifist": he is not opposed to the use of force, but he believes that it has become an ineffective tool for achieving political ends.
In 2006 the NSW ombudsman released a report which found sniffer dogs were "an ineffective tool for detecting drug dealers" and were "overwhelmingly" used in searches where either no drugs or "very small amounts" were found.
Bray mentions a few pro-gun Antifa groups, including the Huey P. Newton Gun Club, and a collective with the punning moniker Trigger Warning; he quibbles with liberal scholars, including Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, who dismiss violent protest as an ineffective tool for garnering public support.
They pointed to a Congressional Research Service report that noted bonus depreciation is a "relatively ineffective tool for stimulating the economy".
A key problem with this approach is that top-down directives can often be a surprisingly ineffective tool for driving digital adoption.
Greenpeace insists golden rice is a "waste of money" and an "ineffective tool… [that] is also environmentally irresponsible, poses risks to human health and compromises food security".
Ultimately, Obama's speech utilized a type of high-minded, rational discourse that is an ineffective tool in the fight against Trump's wildly inconsistent ideology.
However, the fact that Jeremy Christian was not in the database suggests that at its best, it is an ineffective tool.
