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TEACHING NOTE
CASE 23
Robin Hood
Overview
This 2-page case is a classic that works great in the classroom. It forces students to think outside the box,
challenging them to analyze Robin Hood’s crusade against the Sheriff of Nottingham in business terms.
As the case unfolds, Robin Hood’s problems are multiplying. His main source of revenue is declining as
travelers are beginning to avoid coming through the forest (The market is in decline! The present strategy has run
out of gas. Does Robin Hood need to expand into new geographic markets to maintain and grow revenues?). Yet,
because the fame of his Merrymen is spreading, new recruits are pouring in. The size of his band is beginning
to exceed the food capacity of the forest and the band’s camp, because of its increasing size, is easier to detect.
Discipline is becoming harder to enforce. (In other words, costs are rising and diseconomies of scale have
set in—Robin Hood is caught in a classic profit squeeze! Moreover, the culture is being eroded because all
the newcomers do not have the same values and beliefs as the original members who had a common bond of
opposing the evil Sheriff and trying to redress grievances of the downtrodden at the hands of the ruling class.
Furthermore, the Sheriff’s forces are growing stronger (i.e., competition is intensifying!). Robin needs an action
plan to deal with the deteriorating situation, and he needs to implement it quickly.
Suggestions for Using the Case
We positioned this case as the lead off case for your module on strategy execution (Chapter 10) for three reasons.
One, the case is short—something that students always appreciate. Two, and more importantly, it is an excellent
transition case—there are elements of both crafting strategy and executing the chosen strategy for students to
consider in arriving at their action recommendations. The implementation/execution issues lurking in this case
cut across a wide front—organization, culture, motivation and commitment, policies, control, and leadership.
Some kind of action on Robin Hood’s part is urgently needed—indeed, some pretty big decisions are needed.
The twin issues of “what to do” and “how to achieve good results quickly” are pervasive. Three, in teaching this
case over the years, we’ve seen time and again that the Robin Hood case has all of the ingredients for producing
an exceptionally lively, entertaining class discussion. It’s a case that is virtually certain to be popular with
students, and it’s a fun case to teach.
However, you can also use the Robin Hood case as a leadoff case for the course. The case involves issues relating
to mission, objectives, strategy, and decisive strategic leadership; the need for an action plan is obvious—these
are the very things one looks for in a good leadoff case. And the nature of the case virtually guarantees the
stimulating kind of class discussion one needs to get the course off on the right foot.
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What to Tell Students in Preparing the Robin Hood Case for Class. To give students guidance in
what to do and think about in preparing the Robin Hood case for class discussion, we strongly recommend
that you provide class members with assignment questions and insist that they prepare good notes/answers to
these questions before coming to class. Our recommended assignment questions for the Robin Hood case are
presented in the next section of this TN.
To facilitate your use of assignment questions and making them available to students, we have posted a file of
the Assignment Questions contained in this teaching note on the instructor resources section of the Connect
Library.
In our experience, it is quite difficult to have an insightful and constructive class discussion of an assigned case
unless students have conscientiously have made use of pertinent core concepts and analytical tools in preparing
substantive answers to a set of well-conceived study questions before they come to class. In our classes, we
expect students to bring their notes to the study questions to use/refer to in responding to the questions that
we pose. Moreover, students often find that a set of study questions is useful in helping them prepare oral
team presentations and written case assignments—in addition to whatever directive question(s) you supply for
these assignments. Hence, we urge that you provide students with assignment questions—either those we have
provided or a set of your own questions—for all those aspects of a case that you believe are worthy of student
analysis or that you plan to cover during your class discussion of the case.
Auto-Graded Connect Case Exercise. The 20th Edition includes a fully auto-graded Connect case exercise
for 17 of the cases included in the text. The auto-graded exercises closely follow the assignment questions and
analysis included in the teaching note for the case. The auto-graded exercise for the Robin Hood case requires
that students answer a series of multiple choice questions related to Assignment Questions 1–5. Questions
6 and 7 are left as open ended questions that allows students to fully discuss recommendations concerning an
action plan for Robin Hood.
Students should be expected to spend about 30–45 minutes to complete the exercise, assuming they have
done a conscientious job of reading the case and absorbing the information it contains. All of the questions are
automatically graded, and the grades are automatically recorded in your Connect grade book, which makes it
easy for you to evaluate each class member’s ability to apply many of the concepts discussed in Chapters 1, 2,
and 10.
Utilizing the Guide to Case Analysis. If this is your first assigned case, you may find it beneficial to have
class members read the Guide to Case Analysis that immediately follows Case 31 in the text. The content of this
Guide is particularly helpful to students if your course is their first experience with cases and they are unsure
about the mechanics of how to prepare a case for class discussion, oral presentation, or written analysis.
Suggested Assignment Questions for an Oral Team Presentation or Written Case Analysis.
The length of the case makes it ideal for an in-class written case or a final exam case. Our suggested written
assignment questions are as follows:
1. As Robin Hood’s most trusted advisor (and as someone knowledgeable in the ways of crafting and executing
effective strategies), please prepare an action plan for Robin Hood’s consideration. It is your job to convince
him to pursue your proposed plan; hence your report should include full justification and arguments to
support your recommended course of action.
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2. Since you are Robin Hood’s most trusted advisor and are most knowledgeable about crafting and
implementing effective strategies, he has called upon you to advise him on how to proceed in light of the
situation. Within the next few hours, Robin Hood expects you to provide him with:
(a) A rundown of the issues he needs to address
(b) An appropriate action plan that includes
n a mission,
n a set of performance objectives,
n a strategy for dealing with the issues/problems he confronts, and
n the action steps that will need to be taken to implement the strategy effectively.
Please provide supporting analysis and persuasive argument for your recommended course of action
(you must convince him to do what you suggest!) and you need to be specific about what to do and how
to do it.
Assignment Questions
1. What problems does Robin Hood have? What issues need to be addressed?
2. Do Robin Hood and the Merrymen need a new mission? new objectives? a new strategy?
3. What strategic options does Robin Hood have? Is continuing with the present strategy an option or is the
present strategy obsolete?
4. Why not try to end the campaign by killing the Sheriff?
5. What are the pros and cons of accepting the offer of the barons to assist in securing King Richard’s release
from prison?
6. What action plan would you recommend to Robin?
7. How should Robin implement the recommended plan? What action steps will need to be taken to make the
recommended strategy work successfully?
Teaching Outline and Analysis
1. What problems does Robin Hood have? What issues need to be addressed?
Robin Hood and his Merrymen are caught in a classic “profit” squeeze. Revenues are down because travelers
are avoiding routes through Sherwood Forest. Costs are rising as new recruits pour in and as foraging for
food supplies must reach out farther and farther from the main encampment. Students ought to see that
Moreover, there are cracks appearing in the culture. Robin Hood and his original small close-knit band of
Merrymen shared a common bond and set of values: oppose the evil Sheriff and try to redress grievances
of the downtrodden at the hands of the ruling class. However, do all the new recruits who are showing up
voluntarily in droves have these same values? Are perhaps they being attracted to join up for less noble
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Several issues have to be addressed:
n Whether to institute the fixed transit tax (and shift to a new business purpose or mission).
2. Do Robin Hood and the Merrymen need a new mission? new performance targets? a
new strategy?
The issue of whether a whole new strategic direction (mission, objectives, and strategy) is needed should be
explored fairly early in the class discussion because the conclusions reached will drive the action plan that
n Will there soon be any bounty to distribute to the poor? With revenues on the decline and costs on the
rise, won’t “profits” dry up?
n Can Robin Hood and his Merrymen continue to count on support from their constituency (the poor, the
downtrodden, and the townspeople) if the distribution of the “profits” slows to a trickle? Will Robin
n The Merrymen’s common bond and shared values involve their mutual desire to oppose the Sheriff and
his administration. Robin Hood forged his original band from men who were united in enmity against
• Do the new recruits share the same values as the Robin and other key members of his band?
• Are they coming to join up because of grievances against the Sheriff and a desire to serve the
Merrymen’s original purpose or because of other attractions—the desire to take up professional
• What is the strength of their commitment to the organization’s original purpose and mission?
• Why is discipline becoming harder to enforce?
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n If the mission-purpose-motto is “rob from the rich and give to the poor,” then what are the appropriate
objectives or performance targets?
• From a business standpoint, an argument can be made that to achieve the purpose and mission to the
fullest, the organization must try to maximize its profits—which requires low operating costs so that
n What is the most appropriate strategy for achieving this objective?
• The basic strategic approach would be to try to maximize revenues (rob as many rich travelers as
is feasible), minimize operating costs (i.e., employ a classic low-cost provider strategy), and have
• So far, Robin Hood has pursued a focus strategy. The target market is only rich merchants and
As these aspects become more apparent to the class, students should begin to understand that Robin
cannot “stay the course” and stick with the ways and methods that have made the organization successful
3. What strategic options does Robin Hood have?
Continuing with the present strategy is not a viable option. A SWOT analysis can help sort out the alternative
courses of action Robin Hood needs to consider:
Strengths
n The increasing size of the band
Weaknesses
n The increasing size of the band (raises costs and increases the chances of detection by the Sheriff’s
forces)
n Discipline is becoming harder to enforce—the culture has some disturbing cracks
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Opportunities
n Impose a fixed transit tax
n Expand operations to geographic areas outside Sherwood Forest (to escape declining market opportunities
in Sherwood Forest)
n Prince John may decide to reinforce the Sheriff 4. Does it make sense to impose a
fixed transit tax to counter the decline in revenues?
The fixed transit tax would entail an altogether new business definition and business purpose. While it might
rejuvenate revenues if the tax is viewed by travelers as an acceptable price to pay for safe passage through
the forest, a fixed transit tax is a questionable alternative. The Merrymen will resist such a radical redefinition
of the band’s purpose; they are proud of their motto: “Rob from the rich and give to the poor.” A transit tax,
imposed uniformly on rich and poor travelers alike, would antagonize the band’s main source of support
5. What about expanding the band’s operations to geographical areas to the north, south,
east, and west of Sherwood Forest as a way of rejuvenating revenues and cash flows?
At first blush, this option has some appeal. Expanding into new geographic areas could provide a much
needed revenue boost and thwart the efforts of rich travelers and abbots to use routes around Sherwood
But geographic expansion would pose serious problems for Robin Hood and his functional organization
structure. With the present organization, Robin Hood can maintain tight personal control over all operations
n Who would be put in charge of the geographical units? Are Will Scarlett, Little John, Scarlock, or Much
the Miller’s Son ready to assume general management responsibility—their skills and experiences are
n Would not each band need to operate on a decentralized basis and assume responsibility for handling
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its own intelligence-gathering, security, discipline, provisioning, and financial controls? If each band
handles its own intelligence-gathering, for example, then what is Will Scarlett’s role? Does he provide
n How would the operations of the geographical units be coordinated?
n How would Robin Hood and/or his chief financial officer maintain proper financial controls? What
would prevent some of the geographic units from not reporting all of the take?
You should raise as many of the above questions with the class as seems necessary to get the class to see the
range of managerial and organizational issues that a geographic expansion strategy entails. This phase of the
It will not be a simple matter for Robin Hood to pursue a strategy of geographic expansion from an
organizational standpoint. It would cause a major upheaval in the way Robin Hood and his band currently
function. Just as important, though, is the question of whether geographic expansion makes good strategic
sense. Expanding operations over a wider area could accelerate the strengthening of the Sheriff’s forces since
Robin Hood’s activities would pose a bigger threat. To the extent that Robin Hood succeeded in expanding
6. Why not try to end the campaign by killing the Sheriff?
While the case states that killing the Sheriff would “not solve the basic problem,” some members of the class
Killing the Sheriff has numerous problems as a solution. To begin with, should “murder” or “assassination”
be countenanced? Is this a legitimate purpose of the organization? Is it compatible with the band’s mission/
Second, even if the hated Sheriff is killed, would not the next Sheriff, probably someone appointed by Prince
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John, simply continue to pursue Robin Hood and his band? Is there any reason to believe that the next Sheriff
Given these considerations, the class should see that killing the Sheriff is, at best, no more than a short term
7. What are the pros and cons of accepting the offer of the barons to assist in securing
King Richard’s release from prison?
While this option may not have seemed appealing at the outset, by this point in the class discussion it starts
to loom as something that must be considered very seriously. None of the other options have stood up
under careful scrutiny. We like to dig into this option by asking the class why the barons have approached
Robin for his assistance. The obvious reason, it seems to us, is because Robin Hood’s activities put him in a
The benefit of Robin joining with the barons is the promise of amnesty for himself. Amnesty gives Robin a
But there are some difficulties that some class members may not have thought about.
n If Robin gets amnesty, then he has his golden parachute. But what about the rest of the Merrymen? Is
Robin to abandon them to fend for themselves?
n What loyalty does Robin owe the other stakeholders—the Merrymen and the poor people he has
benefitted through his efforts at income redistribution?
8. What action plan would you recommend to Robin?
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9. How should Robin implement the recommended plan? What action steps will need to
be taken to make the recommended strategy work successfully?
Assuming that the choice is to pursue negotiations with the barons and participate in their efforts to restore
King Richard to the throne, there are several actions that Robin should take:
n Have a meeting with the Merrymen and explain fully the strategic dilemma that the organization finds
itself in for the long term and the tough choices that have to be made. Let everyone know that the future
n Stop accepting recruits immediately and begin a program to downsize the organization.
n Encourage people to leave the organization voluntarily. Perhaps Little John should come down hard on
n Employ a harvest strategy to maximize short-term cash flow. Perhaps make scattered raids outside
n Pursue negotiations with the barons to secure amnesty for all the remaining Merrymen, the justification
n Avoid further conflict with the Sheriff and lessen the urgency for the Sheriff to secure reinforcements.
n Prepare to cease operations as soon as circumstances permit. Help the Merrymen find alternative career
n Robin should personally devote most of his time and effort to assisting the barons gain King Richard’s