| Course | BU 380 Strategic Leadership |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 2 |
| Paper type | Mission and values stress test |
| Length | About 1,020 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Business Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 380 Unit 2
Would "Work Hard, Have Fun and Make Money" Have Predicted It? A Mission and Values Stress Test of Tractor Supply Against Four Announced Decisions
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 380: Strategic Leadership
Instructor Name
March 16, 2026
Would "Work Hard, Have Fun and Make Money" Have Predicted It? A Mission and Values Stress Test of Tractor Supply Against Four Announced Decisions
The Text Being Tested
Tractor Supply Company, the listed rural lifestyle retailer profiled in Unit 1, publishes the following mission statement: "Work hard, have fun and make money by providing legendary service and great products at everyday low prices." It lists ten values: ethics, respect, balance, winning attitude, communication, development, teamwork, change, initiative and accountability, which it says drive every business decision and the way it treats customers and team members (Tractor Supply Company, n.d.). The company does not publish a separate vision statement on that page, so this test works with the mission and the values. They are quoted exactly so that the test has a fixed text to work against.
The test asks one question of each decision: would a reader who knew only the published statements have predicted it? Collins and Porras (1996) argued that a company's core values should be few, enduring and genuinely held, and that a useful test of any stated value is whether the company would keep it even if it became a competitive disadvantage. A value that never constrains a decision is decoration.
Four Announced Decisions
Four decisions were chosen because each was announced publicly and each touches the statements. First, in June 2024 the company released a statement, also filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, saying it would stop submitting data to the Human Rights Campaign, refocus its team member engagement groups, stop sponsoring nonbusiness activities such as pride festivals and voting campaigns, eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion roles and retire its DEI goals, and withdraw its carbon emission goals in favor of land and water conservation (Tractor Supply Company, 2024). Second, in December 2024 it acquired Allivet, an online pet pharmacy, for $135.0 million. Third, it keeps expanding its footprint, with 99 Tractor Supply openings last fiscal year and roughly as many planned this year. Fourth, it continues an everyday low price approach backed by its Neighbor's Club loyalty program rather than frequent promotions (Tractor Supply Company, 2026).
The set was picked for variety rather than drama: one is a public statement about programs and giving, one an acquisition, one a growth program and one a pricing approach. A test that looked only at controversial decisions would overstate how often the statements fail, while a test that looked only at routine decisions would understate it. The mix gives the mission and values a fair chance to predict both ordinary and difficult choices.
Decision 1: The June 2024 Statement
Which statement would have predicted this decision? The statement itself answers in part: the company wrote that it had "heard from customers that we have disappointed them" and that it would ensure its activities and giving "tie directly to our business" (Tractor Supply Company, 2024). That reasoning fits the mission's commercial core, making money by serving customers, and the value of change, since the company changed course after feedback.
Which statement cuts against it? Respect is the obvious candidate. The company's filings describe a workplace "where everyone is treated with respect and which fosters different perspectives," and the June statement promised to keep ensuring a respectful environment (Tractor Supply Company, 2026). Whether eliminating DEI roles and ending pride sponsorship is consistent with respect depends on what respect is taken to mean. The decision shows that, in practice, respect at Tractor Supply means a respectful environment for all team members and customers without programs aimed at particular groups. That is a narrower reading than many readers of the value would have assumed before June 2024, and the test records it as the value's operating meaning rather than judging it.
Decision 2: Acquiring Allivet
The Allivet acquisition is well predicted by the mission. It extends "great products" into pet medications and adds convenience through auto-ship and next-day delivery, and it serves the companion animal category, 24 percent of fiscal 2025 sales. Among the values, change and initiative fit a move into a new channel. Nothing in the statements cuts against it. The decision is consistent with a company whose mission is commercial and whose values emphasize adapting.
Decision 3: About 100 New Stores a Year
Continued store growth is predicted by "make money" and by the winning attitude value, and the company ties it to serving rural and exurban communities. One value adds a possible tension: balance. Opening roughly two stores a week, while remodeling existing stores and building a new distribution center, places heavy demands on store and supply chain teams, and the filings list hiring and retaining qualified team members as a risk. Balance does not forbid growth, but it would predict attention to workload, which the public filings do not describe in detail. The test marks this as a place where the value may be stated more than it is operated.
Decision 4: Everyday Low Prices
The everyday low price approach is written into the mission itself, so it is the easiest decision to predict. It also supports ethics and communication, since steady prices are easier for customers to trust than frequent sales. This decision passes the test cleanly.
What the Statements Actually Predict
Across the four decisions, the mission predicts well: each decision can be read as working hard to serve customers with products and prices in order to make money. The values predict unevenly. Change and initiative appear in almost every decision. Respect and balance are the values most in tension with announced choices, and in the June 2024 case the company's actions defined respect more narrowly than its wording suggests. Collins and Porras (1996) would call values that bend under pressure something other than core values. The fairer reading is that Tractor Supply's operating core is its mission's commercial promise to rural customers, and that its values are interpreted in light of that promise. A student using these statements to predict future decisions should weight the mission heavily and read the values through it. The company's statements and decisions are quoted from public sources; the interpretations are this paper's own.
References
Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1996). Building your company's vision. Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 65-77.
Tractor Supply Company. (2024, June 28). Form 8-K: Company statement released June 27, 2024. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/916365/000091636524000077/tsco-20240627.htm
Tractor Supply Company. (2026). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 27, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/916365/000091636526000014/tsco-20251227.htm
Tractor Supply Company. (n.d.). Mission and values. https://corporate.tractorsupply.com/company-overview/mission-and-values/default.aspx
BU 380 Unit 2 instructions, in plain terms
The Unit 2 assignment asks students to test the firm's published mission, vision and values against its actual decisions. Most versions want the statements quoted exactly, several announced decisions described neutrally with sources, and an analysis of each decision asking which statement would have predicted it and which, if any, it contradicts. Many rubrics ask what a value appears to mean in practice when a decision cuts against it. Instructors reward fair, evidence-based criticism over praise or outrage. If the firm has no separate vision statement, say so rather than inventing one. Expect a few pages built on quoted statements and public filings or news reports, cited in APA 7.
How the BU 380 Unit 2 example is put together
The sample quotes the mission and lists the ten values exactly, notes that no separate vision appears on the company's page and states the test's single question. A short section describes four decisions and explains why a mix of controversial and routine choices was selected. Each decision then gets its own section naming the statements that support it and those that strain against it. The June 2024 statement is analyzed with quotations from the company's own filing, and the paper records the operating meaning of respect without judging it. The acquisition, store growth and pricing sections are shorter. A closing section summarizes what the statements actually predict and how a reader should weight them.
BU 380 Unit 2 rubric: what full points look like
The rubric for the stress test generally assesses accurate use of the statements, fair description of decisions, the quality of the analysis and the conclusion about what the statements mean in practice. Accuracy earns full points when statements are quoted exactly and sourced. Fairness is judged by neutral descriptions of decisions with citations. Analysis scores highest when each decision is tested against specific statements, with support and tension both identified. The conclusion criterion rewards papers that say what the values appear to mean in operation, as the sample does with respect and balance, rather than simply declaring the company hypocritical or admirable. Clear organization and correct citations of company filings complete the grade.
BU 380 Unit 2 help before you submit
The most common Unit 2 mistake is paraphrasing the mission and values, which removes the fixed text the test depends on. Another is choosing only controversial decisions, which makes every statement look false. Students often describe decisions with loaded language that signals a verdict before the analysis begins. Some papers praise or condemn the company without connecting the judgment to a specific statement. Others test the vision and values together when they make different kinds of claims. Finally, remember that a general mission can still be tested; the question is whether it would have predicted the decision, and a very general statement usually predicts almost everything, which is itself a finding.
Get a BU 380 Unit 2 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 2 instructions and the rubric from your BU 380 classroom, with the firm you selected and its published statements. We write a custom example that quotes the wording exactly, describes announced decisions neutrally, runs the test one decision at a time and revises the statements. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 380 Unit 2 questions, answered
What if the mission statement is very general?
Then say so and show it, because generality is a finding. A statement that would predict any decision by any firm in the industry cannot guide one, and demonstrating that against four announced choices makes a stronger paper than pretending the words carry meaning. Suggest wording that would have ruled something out, since that is what a usable statement does.
Do vision and values both have to be tested?
Follow the instructions, which usually name all three. Where the choice is open, test whichever the firm actually publishes and say which of the three it seems to run on. Some companies say almost nothing in a vision and a great deal in their values, and reporting that imbalance is itself an observation about how direction gets set.
Can I criticize the company?
Yes, provided every criticism rests on something published and sourced. The paper is an analysis rather than a complaint, so keep the language measured and the claims evidenced, and separate what the firm did from what you suspect it intended. Speculation about motives, especially the motives of named executives, is where these papers usually overreach.
Where can I find a free BU 380 Unit 2 sample paper?
This page carries the complete BU 380 Unit 2 stress test free, including the quoted statements and all four decision analyses. For a test of another company's mission and values, share the firm and the prompt, and we will build the test around that firm's own statements for free, commonly inside 48 hours.
Can I criticize the company in BU 380 Unit 2?
Yes, if the criticism rests on evidence. The sample identifies where respect and balance strain against announced decisions and states what those values seem to mean in practice. Tie every critical point to a quoted statement and a sourced decision.