Strategic Management Case Study Report

Robin Hood and the Merrymen

Background
Robin Hood and the merrymen are in the business to steal from the rich and give it to the needy. The
organization started by Robin Hood grew large with lot of new recruits. Robin Hood being the head of
troops delegated functional duties to his subordinates. Their largest competitor, the sheriff, had become
powerful, more organized and a dominant threat to the existence of the band.
The Merrymen could adopt several strategies in order to overcome the sheriff.
Robin Hood and his men could improvise internal operations in order to compete by finding
internal strengths and overcoming their weakness.
Merrymen can focus on new market opportunity, consumer expectations, competitors actions
and technological advances.
Robin Hood could choose the external and internal focus and perform a SWOT analysis to figure
out the complete standing of the Merrymen compared to their competitors

Problems
Lack of discipline
Food, shelter and space shortage
Training (As everyone was welcomed to join the organization)
Maintenance and operating Cost
Challenges to organize big and little trained group.
Change management
Goal alignment of the individual with that of a group
Security and Vigilance
Changing from old war methods to newer ones

Current Business Model
Robin Hoods organization is haphazard. He is assisted by three lieutenants for core functions and is
certainly under employed as far as management is concerned. It is very evident that managing such a
huge organization is difficult using a top-down approach. There may be certain functions that are being
Team Members
Khalid Ahmed, Muzna Qaiser,
Khadeja Shami & Jawad Hasan
ignored due to less supervisors and managers. There is not much interaction between the various
departments. Robin Hood needs to change the organizational structure. He should change it to the
below mentioned structure and delegate responsibility in order to manage the bigger group that he now
commands. This will result in decentralization of the control, delegation of power and empowerment of
the people.

Proposed Organizational Structure
Put the recruitment process in order. A good way is to recruit supervisors and lay down policies
for recruitment such as limiting the age and family background. By doing this, he shall only get
workers who are focused and share the similar goal.
Appoint a food shelter and medical supervisor under his human resource manager. Food and
shelter supervisors will concentrate on sole responsibilities. The main role of food supervisor will
be to constantly look for newer and cheaper sources of food.
Build a spy division with a fleet of spies and deploy them around the sheriffs office. The job
should encompass the cross verification of the details of new recruits.

Recommended Strategies
Levy tax on merchants who pass by the forest. Levying regular tax shall act a constant source of
income. Also, the merchants can be informed that they will not be looted in case they adhere to
the tax policies. They will be rather protected in Robin Hoods territory. This shall be a win-win
situation for both as Robin Hood shall get regular income and merchandisers dont have to
worry about getting looted in forest and can concentrate on other issues
Encourage a villager to become Robin Hoods spokesperson and representative in the kingdom
Ask people to participate in the King Richards rescue mission
Robin Hood should not recruit new men in his group and create a bubble that could burst.
Rather, he should diversify. Enrich his men with funds and support to become merchants and
traders. The group thus formed should be supported and hence they can use their power to
threat other merchants as well as the prince
He should bond and increase his relationship with the farmers. Instead new recruitment should
be done from among the farmers as it shall serve as a strong economic backup and also an
abundant supply of cheap food
He should try to get people from princes court on his payroll. Acting as a spy and thus letting
him know of any new strategy prince is formulating or any new business that he indulges to get
in. At the same time Robin Hood needs to be ready to diversify into new business in case, he get
to know about it
Enforce discipline by practicing it