- The organization chart of Robin Hood and The Merrymen would include; Robin Hood at the CEO, as he is supreme and makes all major decisions. Like any CEO all the other leaders in the organization report to him. Will Scarlet, is Chief Information Officer, as he collects all the information necessary for running the information. That information includes information about competitors like sheriff and also supply-chain. Little John can be considered as Head of Operations, as he kept all the men prepared for action and organizational machinery well oiled. Scarlock would be their Chief Financial Officer, as he manages all the collection and expense incurred for running the organization. Finally, Much the Miller’s son would be Director of Procurement, as he is responsible for collecting supplies and maintain supply lines.
- Robin Hood and the Merrymen certainly need a new plan. Their current course of action is obsolete. Their band’s situation has been changing due to the increasing size and complexity of operation. This changing scenario has been creating many problems for them. Due to increase in enrollment, the oversight over the Merrymen was on decline. For the very same reason, discipline was becoming hard to enforce. So much so, that Robin felt he didn’t knew half the people he banged into. This was certainly not good from organizational standpoint, as this disconnect can lead to misunderstanding and mutiny. The increase in size was having an impact on the availability of food in the forest. Consequently, they had to sources food from neighboring villages, which was draining their resources. Travelers had started avoiding the forests, which further affected their bottom-line. Even Robin realized that the time had come for change in strategy, and to reorganize and revitalize the organization.
- I am of the opinion that it would be counter-productive to impose fixed transit tax. That is because it will be imposed on rich and poor alike. Taxation of poor will reduce the support they get from impoverished people. It will have direct impact on their mission and vision, which was to loot the rich and distribute among poor. It will be completely lost, and so would be their raison d’etre. It may happen that they end up taxing their not-so-affluent traders, who may have been their silent supporters. In organizational terms, they’ll lose community support towards their initiatives. As an alternative, it would be much better to diversity the organization, and have separate band move to a different forest. That would be in keeping their current strategy.
- I would say it would make a lot of sense to expand their operations to a larger area. This will allow them to explore more strategic areas. It would be particularly beneficial if both forest are connected to each other. That way they can exploit any synergy between these forests. Also they will be able to put to use the new members of the band. It would be a very good exercise in succession planning and leadership development. These new leaders can form strategic unit, which would be the individual forest, and can compete like two divisions of the organizations. This will bring in fresh ideas in their operations. This will relieve the Sherwood Forest of the burden and lessen band’s logistics and financial problem.
- They should not aim for killing the sheriff. As they themselves believe that banditry is one thing, and court intrigue to kill sheriff is another thing. Moreover, killing might result in direction action against them by Prince John. They have the resources to look from rich people, but don’t have the resources to fight Prince’s army. Also, the replacement of current sheriff might be even more committed against them. That may result in even a bloody campaign, which they would want to avoid.
- The pros are that it might bring their campaign to a logical end. The King Richard, who is in exile in Austria, will bring about reconciliation. The cons would be the reconciliation itself, as the band will lose its raison d'être. They would be left with the choice of either disbanding their band or finding another cause. With King Richard back, other strong causes would be hard to find. If they don’t have other causes to campaign for, then they rather not join the Barons in bringing the King back.
- I would suggest that Robin Hood; not go for killing the sheriff, as it would be counterproductive. They should divide the band into divisions based on the number forest they cover. They should take initiative to bring about discipline in the band. They should not go about taxing everybody; and should expand to areas beyond Sherwood Forest.
- Among the top five actions steps would be: dividing the band into smaller groups; adding a tier of operations leader to lead these groups; find a leader to effectively communicate with towns and villages to foster their support; looking other forest that can be of strategic importance; and appoint somebody to care of supply chain/lines so that campaigns are effective.
- Robin Hood: CEO
Will Scarlet: Chief Information Officer
Little John: Chief of Staff/Operations
Scarlock: Chief Financial Officer
Tom, Dick & Harry: Director of Operations of individual forest reporting to Little John
Tin Tin: Manager, Community Engagement.
