| Course | C209 Strategic Management |
|---|---|
| Task | Task 1 |
| Paper type | Mission, vision and values evaluation |
| Length | About 1,000 words, 3 pages |
| Format | APA 7 |
| School | Western Governors University (WGU) |
| Program | MS Management and Leadership |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for C209 Task 1
Getting People Outside, or Selling Fleece to People Who Never Go There? Evaluating a Composite Outdoor Gear Retailer's Mission, Vision and Values and How Revised Statements Would Shape Its Strategy
Student Name
School of Business, Western Governors University
C209: Strategic Management, Task 1
Course Instructor
Month Day, Year
Getting People Outside, or Selling Fleece to People Who Never Go There? Evaluating a Composite Outdoor Gear Retailer's Mission, Vision and Values and How Revised Statements Would Shape Its Strategy
The Organization
Summit & Trail, a composite specialty outdoor retailer, operates 34 stores in the mountain West and an online store, with annual revenue of about $410 million. Founded in 1978 by two climbing guides, it built its reputation on expert staff, technical gear and free clinics on everything from avalanche safety to fly casting. Over the past decade, its growth has come largely from casual apparel: fleece, jackets and shoes bought by customers who wear them to work and on weekends in town. Technical gear sales have been flat, clinics have been cut to save labor costs, and staff turnover has risen as experienced specialists leave. Leadership has asked whether the company's statements of purpose still guide its strategy.
The Current Statements
Mission: "Summit & Trail exists to get more people outside."
Vision: "To be the best outdoor retailer in the West."
Values: "Passion. Integrity. Adventure. Community."
Evaluating the Statements
A mission statement should say what an organization does, for whom and how, in terms specific enough to guide choices; a vision should describe the future the organization is trying to create; and values should state the principles that guide behavior when choices are hard. In a widely cited framework, Collins and Porras (1996) described a well-conceived vision as having two parts: a core ideology, made up of core values and a core purpose that do not change, and an envisioned future, a bold long-term goal with a vivid description of what achieving it would look like.
Summit & Trail's mission has real strengths. "Get more people outside" is memorable, expresses a purpose beyond profit and fits the founders' history. Its weakness is that it says nothing about how the company does this or for whom, so it can justify almost any decision, including selling casual apparel to people who never go outside.
The vision is the weakest statement. "Best outdoor retailer in the West" does not say best at what, or by whose measure, and it describes a ranking rather than a future. It gives employees no picture of what success would look like and offers no guidance when goals conflict, such as when a store must choose between floor space for technical gear and for higher-margin apparel.
The values are single words that almost any company could claim. Without definitions or behaviors attached, they do not tell a store manager what to do when cutting clinics would improve quarterly results, and they are silent on the expertise that built the brand.
How the Statements Shape Strategy Now
Research suggests that mission statements matter, but modestly and unevenly. A meta-analysis of two decades of studies found a small positive relationship between mission statements and financial performance, with estimates that varied widely depending on how studies measured both (Desmidt et al., 2011). One interpretation is that a statement helps performance only when it is specific enough to shape decisions and is actually used.
At Summit & Trail, the statements have not guided strategy because they do not exclude anything. When merchandising proposed expanding casual apparel, the mission could justify it: fleece helps people feel outdoorsy. When operations proposed cutting clinics, the values offered no counterargument, because "community" was undefined. The result is strategic drift. The company is slowly becoming a general apparel retailer competing with national chains on price, a position where it has no advantage, while weakening the expertise that differentiates it. Strategy, as Porter (1996) argued, is about choosing a unique and valuable position and accepting trade-offs, including deciding what not to do; operational improvements alone do not make a strategy, because competitors can copy them. Statements that rule nothing out leave a company without the basis for those trade-offs.
Revised Statements
Mission: "Summit & Trail helps people of every skill level get outside safely and confidently, through expert advice, gear we have tested ourselves and skills we teach for free."
Vision: "By 2032, every Summit & Trail store will be the place its community learns to climb, ski, paddle and hike, with more than 100,000 people taking our clinics each year and a staff known as the most trusted outdoor experts in the West."
Values: Expertise first: we sell only what we understand and would use ourselves. Safety always: we will turn down a sale before we send someone out unprepared. Open to everyone: we welcome beginners and work to make the outdoors accessible. Care for the places we play: we give back to the public lands our customers depend on.
How the Revision Would Shape Strategy
The revised statements make trade-offs explicit. The mission's commitment to expert advice and free skills would support restoring clinics and investing in staff training and retention, since expertise cannot be delivered by a revolving staff. The vision gives a measurable target, clinic participation, that ties community to the business: customers who learn a skill in a clinic are likely to buy the gear to practice it. The value of selling only what the company understands would limit casual apparel to lines connected to outdoor use, freeing floor space for technical categories and rentals. The value of accessibility supports beginner programs and rental gear that bring new customers in at low cost.
The revision does not mean abandoning apparel, which is profitable. It means apparel becomes part of a strategy built on expertise rather than the strategy itself. Leadership would communicate the new statements in every store, attach them to hiring and training, and review major decisions, such as floor space allocation and labor budgets, against them each year.
Conclusion
Summit & Trail's current mission, vision and values are appealing but too general to guide strategy, and that vagueness has allowed the company to drift toward a position where it cannot win. Revised statements that specify how the company serves customers, describe a vivid future and define values as behaviors would give leaders a basis for difficult choices and connect the company's purpose to a distinctive strategy.
References
Collins, J. C., & Porras, J. I. (1996). Building your company's vision. Harvard Business Review, 74(5), 65-77.
Desmidt, S., Prinzie, A., & Decramer, A. (2011). Looking for the value of mission statements: A meta-analysis of 20 years of research. Management Decision, 49(3), 468-483. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251741111120806
Porter, M. E. (1996). What is strategy? Harvard Business Review, 74(6), 61-78.
What the C209 Task 1 instructions ask
The first C209 task asks you to evaluate an organization's mission, vision and values and propose improvements. Plan to describe the organization, present its statements, evaluate them against criteria, explain how they shape current strategy, write revised statements and explain how the revisions would guide strategy. Evaluators look for criteria stated before they are applied, evaluation that cites the statements' actual wording, evidence on how such statements affect organizations and revisions that make choices clearer. Revised statements that are only more eloquent, without guiding decisions, leaves the revision aspects unmet. The best revisions tell employees what to do when priorities conflict. Quote the statements exactly.
How this C209 Task 1 example is built
The analysis opens with the retailer, its stores, customers and competitors. The current statements are quoted in full. The evaluation section states criteria for each type of statement, then applies them, noting where the mission is appealing but too general to guide choices. A section describes how the statements shape strategy now, drawing on research about mission statements and performance. Revised statements follow, each written to answer a weakness found. A final section explains the decisions the revisions would support, such as restoring clinics and resisting price matching. The conclusion ties the analysis to the company's strategic drift. Each revision answers one weakness.
Where the C209 Task 1 rubric puts the marks
Each C209 Task 1 aspect earns competent, approaching competence or not evident. The first aspect wants enough context about the organization to judge its finances. A statements aspect rewards the current mission, vision and values presented accurately. An evaluation aspect looks for criteria applied to each statement. A strategy aspect wants the statements' influence on strategy explained. A revision aspect asks for improved statements. An impact aspect looks for how the revisions would shape decisions. Evaluators notice when evaluation quotes the statements rather than paraphrasing, and they expect strategy research to be cited. Revised statements that make trade-offs explicit, such as advice over price, show strategic judgment. Clear headings for each statement help evaluators follow the evaluation. A conclusion that links the statements to the company's drift shows why the revision matters.
C209 Task 1 help: what sends it back
C209 papers lose marks when statements are judged without criteria. State what a good mission, vision and values should do, then apply those standards. Evaluation may be praise, so find where each statement falls short. Revisions often add words without adding direction; make each revision support a choice. The strategy section can be general, so describe specific decisions the statements shape. Last, keep revised statements short enough to remember, since a mission no one can recall cannot guide anyone. Explain how employees would use the revised statements in a real decision, such as whether to match an online competitor's price. Cite research on mission statements and describe what it does and does not show. Keep the organization's size and market in view, since statements must fit the business they guide.
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C209 Task 1 questions, answered
Do mission statements affect performance in C209?
Research suggests a small positive relationship that varies by context. The sample cites a meta-analysis and argues that statements matter most when they guide specific choices. Specific statements guide choices better than vague ones.
Is the C209 retailer real?
No. Summit & Trail is invented for this sample. The strategy research cited in the evaluation is real, and your paper should use your course's organization. Quote your organization's statements exactly.
What are values in C209?
Statements of the principles that guide behavior, especially when priorities conflict. The sample revises the retailer's values so they tell employees what to do in real situations.
Should C209 revised statements be short?
Yes. A mission should be short enough to remember and specific enough to guide choices. The sample's revised mission names customers, method and commitment in one sentence.
Where can I find a free C209 Task 1 sample paper?
Summit & Trail's statements, the evaluation and the revisions all appear on this page with commentary. Name the organization you are evaluating, and your first custom C209 paper costs nothing.