Dominant approach
Robin Hood’s parade is at first doing a good job at maintaining order or, at least, providing for the needs of the poor and those who have decided to join his course. Robin Hood becomes a vigilante when the sheriff fails to provide safety for the people. His strategy involves hiding in the woods where the sheriff cannot trace him . He provides for those who are oppressed by robbing the rich and giving it to the poor. His goal is to cause unrest in the state so that the Sheriff can be discredited. Eventually, he recruits too many members into his band that they become uncontrollable.
Any problem should be reviewed from time to access if priorities and position have changed over time. At first, he manages to get the place in order at least for two years. The band grows in numbers at a fast pace, and soon, the numbers became too big to manage on a personal level or provide for. The sheriff has gotten stronger, and he becomes a source of imminent danger to them . Hood had made a big mistake when he allowed all members of the society who were willing to serve welcome into the band. He confused willingness to serve with passion. The problem was that, while Hood was passionate about his cause, his recruits were not. Hood’s goals and objectives should change accordingly. Initially, his primary purpose was to make his band very big. At the moment, his best decision is to wish for more passionate men.
Management founded on good strategies, execution, and good communication is imperative for the success of any non-trivial mission being executed by a team of any size. Hood’s major disadvantage was that he was new at this job of managing people and hence he was still inexperienced. His new predicament changes how he thinks and how he is going to come up with a new managerial strategy for his people. It involves a complex process of strategy formulation which includes the strategies themselves, the formulation of the strategies and how decisions are influenced by many other forces which are used to come up with the strategy. Hood applies the principles of strategy, and he is on his way to evaluate strategies . There are many forces which are likely to influence the decision that will be made finally as the best strategy. The enemy who is the sheriff in this scenario has evolved and has also become a stronger and a more organized threat. Communication breakdown is also another problem he encounters since the crew has gotten so big he cannot afford to reach everyone on a personal level.
Robin’s management is a top-down managerial strategy which involves the delegation of roles . The purpose of this strategy is to ensure that resources such as financing and other provisions are well managed. Hood faces a great threat from the sheriff. He also faces the threat of losing the trust of his men as most of them are not passionate about restoring order but instead they are simply soldiers. The needs of the community should be well taken care of to ensure that the position of the crew towards the society is maintained, and the society does not become a new threat to the crew . Supplies are a major concern since those who are seen in support of the cause can be captured at any point by both the sheriff and by Prince John’s army. Suppliers had a higher bargaining power due to the illegal nature of the business that Robin was involved in.
The strengths of his crew include a large number of crew members who were willing to join Robin Hood’s cause. Leadership skills by Robin also make it possible for the crew to be managed with the use of good leadership skills . Hood fails since he is willing to recruit anyone who is willing to be associated with the crew. The crew has a lot of experience stealing from the rich, a skill they can extend to their new recruits to make themselves stronger.
The weaknesses include the fact that Hood has a personal grudge with the sheriff which is likely to cloud his judgment leading to poor decisions. In the beginning, the purpose of the group was to overthrow the sheriff but with time things have changed and their intentions with the sheriff too. Hood even contemplates killing him. Hood has become vengeful towards the sheriff who is likely to lead him to ill-informed decisions . The alliances made by the crew are another object of concern. These new recruits are not properly trained and motivated to their cause. Hood has been recruiting recklessly, and discipline and vigilance have reduced significantly. The members have also become so many that there is a shortage of food for the men. The rich merchants who used to pass through the woods have changed their route which leaves them with no one to root.
The release of King Richard is a major opportunity that hood and his crew members can consider. Releasing the king will have a positive impact on the group who will also get provisions from the king once they rescue him . With the release of the king, they would not have to worry about provisions. Failure would be tragic for the course since apart from the Sheriff, Prince John’s army would also come for the crew members.
The sheriff is the major threat to the cause. While the campaign was successful at first, the sheriff has since gained more support and forces behind him . The men had initially opted to cause unrest which would be used as a strategy to get the sheriff removed from office. The sheriff turned the situation so that he was able to get more funding for his campaign against vigilance.
Recommendations
Hoods new strategy is to start downsizing by getting rid of those were not passionate about his cause. This will mean letting some of the men go . Getting rid of the sheriff will only increase unrest to the citizens whom he wishes to protect. To come up with a newer and better strategy, hood needs to come up with a new strategy which will involve the use of strategic principles for strategy formulation. Hood must have clearly cut out objectives as he starts out. The objectives he had while starting out have since changed, and he has different concerns or objectives now as compared to when he first started out . The initiatives of strategic formulation must be maintained and ensure that these decisions are made from a point whose major concern is to maintain contact with the real enemy who is the sheriff. Hood should be cautious not to make contact with those who are not his enemies such as the members of the society, especially those who are poor and behind the inspiration by Hood to start his movement.
Concentration should be on factors which are less likely for the enemy to compete well with, which will increase the crew’s chances of victory. Hood should also start delegating responsibilities to members of his crew effectively. Managers should learn the skill of delegating responsibilities to those around them. Most managers have the desire to conduct every activity on their own and this practice often gets in the way of effectiveness. By delegating some roles, communication will be more effective, and he will be able to manage the growing numbers of individuals willing to fight for his cause . In Hood’s situation, threats are possible from many different directions. When Hood formulates a strategy, the concern is to ensure that the plan is flexible enough so that it can adopt to the multiple forms of attacks that can be effected against them by their enemies. For this to be achieved, there is the need to manage resources effectively, proper organization which will include a fast response to the situation at hand, effective communication strategies which ensures that the right message is sent to the crew within an acceptable time frame, and a clear analysis of the situation at hand to cope up with logistics for the situation at hand.
Command should be well coordinated to avoid incidences of bad or poor governance of the crew members who are a great asset to the cause. The support of the people in the society is also a major concern since their support will influence if or not the sheriff who is the enemy will be defeated. Leverage which is achieved by taking certain positions which are likely to be of some benefit to the other party can be used for leverage. Relationships with those in support should be maintained at all costs. The idea of robbing from the poor in the society will take away the support that these people have for them. Robin’s management is a top-down managerial strategy which involves the delegation of roles . Providing for the poor is a major concern for Robin and the idea of taxing the poor is contrary to the objectives of the cause. The poor need to be protected and taking their resources away from them is not an option. The group can also start getting their own resources by using some of its members as merchants. Killing the sheriff is irrational to the group and will not take away the problem.
References
Labin, Aaron, Curt Matthews and Rich Miller. Robin Hood Case Analysis. 14 April 2009. Web. 28 April 2016.
Lampel, Joseph. "Case 22 Robin Hood." Thompson. Gambe; Crafting and Executing Strategy; Concepts and Cases, 16th Edition. New York: McGraw Hil , 2008. c-318-c-319. Print.
MBA. A Case Study Method Profile at Cass Business School. 20 November 2013. Web. 28 April 2016. <http://www.topmba.com/mba-programs/case-study-method-profile-cass-business-school>.
