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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.
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.
case 25 teaching note
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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 in the Instructors Resource Center of the Connect
Library. (There is a set of assignment questions posted for each of the 32 cases included in the 22nd Edition.)
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.
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 is posted in the student section of the Online Learning Center
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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(b) An appropriate action plan that includes
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?
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
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Several issues have to be addressed:
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
emerges. You can attack the issue of strategic direction by asking the class whether the band’s traditional
mission of robbing the rich and giving to the poor is fast becoming obsolete in light of events.
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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?
n What is the most appropriate strategy for achieving this objective?
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)
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Opportunities
n Impose a fixed transit tax
Threats
n The Sheriff is growing stronger in terms of money, men, and facilities
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
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
Forest. It would also capitalize on the increasing size of the band and provide jobs for the new recruits
pouring in.
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n How would the operations of the geographical units be coordinated?
n Would geographic decentralization tend over time to weaken Robin Hood’s position as a strong leader?
Should Robin Hood be willing to move to decentralized geographic decision-making? Does this really
make sense in light of his personal campaign against the Sheriff and the growing strength of the Sheriff’s
forces? Which decisions would it make sense for Robin to decentralize; for instance should he be
willing to delegate authority for specific “raids” to his geographic heads or should all plans for raids
be cleared with Robin first? Should he simply set policies and guidelines and concern himself mainly
with supervising the geographic heads? How often should he expect reports from them—daily, weekly,
monthly?
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
discussion gives you a golden opportunity to stress the fundamental point that structure follows strategy—in
6. Why not try to end the campaign by killing the Sheri?
While the case states that killing the Sheriff would “not solve the basic problem,” some members of the class
may not see why this option holds out no solution for Robin. Or, they may disagree with the statement in the
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7. What are the pros and cons of accepting the oer 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
8. What action plan would you recommend to Robin?
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