Running head: ROBIN HOOD CASE STUDY 1

ROBIN HOOD CASE STUDY

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Introduction

The Band of Merry Men is a group of individuals who shared the common beliefs of

hatred towards the High Sherriff of Nottingham (personal grievances) and had a profound sense

of justice. Robin formulated the Band with the sole purpose of outwitting the Sherriff and his

administration. The Band contained Lieutenants each assigned a particular task to achieve a

common goal of destabilizing the Sherriffs administration. The essay will use the Band of

Merry Men group and analyze it as an organization. It will identify the reasoning behind the

operations of the band and stipulate the success of the band in relation to its vision, mission,

strategic goals and its smart objectives applied by the band. In addition, aspects such as the role

of stakeholders and organizational culture will be explored in depth.

Stakeholder Summary

A stakeholder in an organization is any individual who has an interest in the organization

in whatever capacity. They define what an organization is and handle the operations of the

concerned organization. The Band of Merry is a group of individuals who share a common belief

of deep sense of justice and dislike to the Sherriff and his administration. The common

perception initiated by Robin is spread to other individuals such as Will Scarlet, Little John,

Scarlock and Much the Millers son who were his main Lieutenants. Progressively, the band

increased in number with the recruitment of other interested parties. The common interest is

stemmed out from their common slogan of robbing the rich and feeding the poor. Robin is the

initiator of the Band and acts as a role model to other members of the band in providing

directions in their operations. The other band members are responsible for performing operations

that maintain the identity of the organization. Such is highlighted the manner they refused the
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fixed transit tax Robin was proposing. The band members knew the implications of such a move

would deprive them the loyalty they earned from the poor and townspeople for their support and

conveyance of information. Hence, they play a part in the formulation of policies vital for the

survival and existence of the Merry Band Men group.

Organizational Culture

All organizations have a culture that identifies their identity. Culture in the sense of ideas,

attitudes, values and beliefs in the employees show in the organization in terms of service

delivery. It explains the manner of how they think, feel and act in an unconscious way (Needle,

2004). The Merry Band is a group of individuals who believe in justice and a similar way of

administration that was not offered by the authority of High Sherriff of Nottingham. Their

negative attitude to the sheriffs rule resulted in the formulation of ideas and operations that

would negate the influence of the Sherriff in the society. Such explains their dedication to doing

whatever it takes to undermine the current administration even when it means going against the

law. The familiar slogan of robbing the rich and feeding the poor was shared amongst the

members and their indulgence to their operations can be described to be in an unconscious

manner. The level of loyalty to the band, therefore, can be deemed as a strength aspect in the

organization. In addition, the issue of having a proper structure in the Band ensured that all

members of the Band knew of their roles hence increasing efficiency in their operations.

However, the increase in numbers in the Band jeopardized their tactical advantage of quickly

being traced. Supplying a large number of Band member became an uphill task, all attributed to

the large band numbers. Only Robin was the member of the group who saw the issue and when

he tried change tactics (fixed transit tax), all the other members refused. The act of
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unconsciously following their initial beliefs indicates a sign of weakness in failing to adapt to the

current challenges facing them as a band.

Proposed Mission

A mission can be defined as a calling. However, in an organization, a mission explains

what an organization is the reason for its existence and outlines the customers, services and

geographical location of the organization (Hill & Jones, 2008). The common mission shared by

members of the Band of Merry was that they wanted to end the reign of the High Sherriff of

Nottingham and his administration. Their deep sense of justice and personal grievances

characterized the mission. In general, the Band is viewed as an anti-Sherriff regime tasked in

outwitting his current administration in the town. To accomplish such, the band is located in the

forest where they would perform their operations smoothly without being easily traced by the

Sherriffs men. The primary beneficiaries of the activities were the poor, townspeople the band

members as outlined by their slogan rob the rich and feed the poor. Such explains the continued

loyalty, support and conveyance of information by the poor and townspeople to the Band and its

course. They all believed in a joint mission to the end of the Sherriffs regime in their town.

Proposed Vision

A vision is an optimal desired state based on the future as imagined in the mental picture.

It acts as a source of inspiration and guidance to the focus of an organization. The Band of Merry

Men operations are all targeted in ensuring that there is no social stratification in their society.

They felt that the Sherriffs administration was inclined in favoring the rich at the expense of the

poor. As such, their vision was the existence of a town where there was a thin line between the

poor and the rich in terms of financial capability and regimes such as High Sherriff of
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Nottingham never existed. The belief of such an idealized state gave them the vigor to fight for

their course as indicated in their operations irrespective of the odds that faced them. The

additional source of motivation can also be attributed to their unconscious manner of believing in

their actions despite the foreseeable challenges they faced due to their increased numbers

resulting in the urgency in changing their tactics.

Strategic Goal

It is defined as a planned objective that an organization intends to achieve. It gives a

demonstration of what strategy and vision the company is undertaking. In most cases, the goal

should be achievable and realistic (Rumelt, 2011). The strategic objective of the Band of Merry

Men is to negate social stratification and discrimination amongst people in the town irrespective

of their status. Such is explained by their guiding principle of robbing the rich and feeding the

poor. The Band believed that anybody supporting social stratification and discrimination was

deemed their enemy. Therefore, they would do all that it takes to fight them. Extreme measures

such as the death of the Sherriff show their dedication to their course and their dislike to

individuals who favour the rich at the expense of the poor. The move to thwart the operations of

the Sherriffs administration was achievable since they had the numbers and tactical advantage

of the forest to undertake their activities. Such a move was targeting the overall change of

perception in regards to poor administration exhibited by High Sherriff of Nottingham.

Proposed SMART Objectives

As the name suggests, these are objectives that are characterized by being specific,

measurable, achievable, and result-focused and time bound (Bogue, 2013). One of the planned

objectives by the Band of Merry Men is to reduce the influence of the Sherriffs administration
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in the town significantly. Such explains their daily operations of causing unrest to the wealthy,

the favored group, and empowerment of the poor, less privileged in the society. The joint

bargaining will enhance the effect of their movement that was pushing for equality to all.

Another SMART goal was the strict adherence and appreciation of the loyalty exhibited by the

poor and townspeople in their locality. They knew their importance to their operations in terms

of their support and conveyance of information about the movements of the Sherriffs men. Such

is evident in the manner in which members of the band disputed the move by Robin in the fixed

transit taxation strategy that would compromise the trust and loyalty from their principal

partners. All the objectives mentioned above are smart in the sense that they are achievable,

measurable and result-focused to achieve the strategic goal of negating social stratification and

discrimination.

Conclusion

The culture of the band was pioneered by the common believe in the unjust ways the

Sherriff was undertaking in the town. The formulation of the group by Robin was based on the

mission, vision, strategic goals and SMART objectives that he was able to share and convince

other individuals in recruiting them to the movement. However, the course seemed to be

unsuccessful since Robin begins to question the success of the Bands mission and vision. Such

is evident in the way he wanted to abolish the Band and join Kings Richard movement. His

manner of recruitment was questionable due to the increased number that jeopardized their

tactical advantage of not being traced in the forest. The recruitment was not up to standards due

to the limited questions he asked during the process. Such resulted in not knowing half of his

Band members hence aspects of maintaining discipline became an uphill task. All the above
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instances indicate the success rate of the operations of the Band of Merry Men was low due to all

the odds that were against them.

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References

Bogue, R. (2013). Use S.M.A.R.T. goals to launch management by objectives plan.

TechRepublic.

Hill, C., & Jones, G. (2008). Strategic Management: An Integrated Approach (8th Revised

edition). South-Western Educational Publishing.

Needle, D. (2004). Business in Context: An Introduction to Business and Its Environment.

Rumelt, R. P. (2011). Good Strategy / Bad Strategy. Crown Business.