Robin Hood SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis on the Robin Hood situation:

Strengths: 

1. Robin ruled supreme.
2. The band was increasing in numbers.
3. Very strong management team which covered the structure and finances of the organization.

Weaknesses:

1. Growing numbers of the men are leading to fast depletion of the food supply from the forest.
2. Discipline was becoming harder to enforce and vigilance was in decline.
3. Supplies were starting to become scarce.

Opportunities: 

1. Robin could have accepted the invitation to join the Barons, who had set out to collect the ransom that would release King Richard, the Lionheart, from his jail in Austria in return for Robin’s future amnesty.
2. Kill the Sheriff and thereby ending his reign in Nottingham.
3. Change their policy of out-right confiscation of goods to one of a fixed transit tax.

Threats:

1. The Sheriff was growing and was beginning to harass the band, probing for its weaknesses.
2. Robin didn’t know half the men he ran with, which would make it a huge threat because Prince John had spies everywhere.
3. Merchant travelers were also taking alternate routes to avoid having their goods confiscated by Robin and his which resulted in a loss of revenue for the band.

Do Robin Hood and the Merrymen need a new plan? Is continuing with the present course of action an option or is that now obsolete? I believe that Robin Hood and his band of Merrymen definitely need a new plan. Continuing in the same course they are currently in would be obsolete.

Robin Hood is currently faced with many issues which need to change. His band of Merrymen is rapidly growing with insufficient resources; they are starting to exceed the food capacity, they are draining their financial reserves, and Robin is losing control of his Merrymen Band. Their source of revenue is in decline because the rich merchant travelers in which they steal from are now seeking alternate routes through the forest to avoid having their goods confiscated by the Merrymen.тRobin needs to come up with a new plan; one that addresses all the issues above and one that would also be able to better discipline and train his growing band of Merrymen,

Do you think it makes sense to impose a fixed transit tax to counter the decline in revenues? Why or why not? I think that it wouldn’t make any sense for Robin to impose a fixed transit tax on all the transportations commuted through the Sherwood Forest because taxing the farmers and the townspeople, which are your most important allies, would make Robin lose their support.

Losing the support of the locals would be foolish because Robin doesn’t have many allies and the only allies that he has, he shouldn’t piss them off because then he will never receive his insights as to what rich merchants will be passing their way. Also, imposing this fixed transit tax would go against the Merrymen’s motto of “Rob the rich and give to the poor” and would make them very upset; and can possibly lead them to turn against Robin.

What is your opinion about expanding the band’s operations to a larger area around Sherwood Forest as a way of solving these problems? Why or why not is this a good idea? I don’t think it would be a good idea to expand the band’s operation to a larger area in the Sherwood Forest because Robin is currently faced with the problem of not knowing his men and they are not well disciplined. It would be foolish to split the men up and have them in charge of their own duty; they can steel from the rich and keep it to themselves.

Now, if Robin were to hire more men like Little John, which kept the men well-disciplined and taught them to be great rchers; then that would be a different story. If he was able to recruit a few lieutenants like Little John and split them into groups in the forest, it would be beneficial and would solve his financial problem because they would be covering more areas of the forest.

Should they try and end the campaign by killing the sheriff? Why or why not? It would be pointless to try to kill the sheriff because it will only satisfy Robin’s thirst for revenge against the sheriff, it will not solve any of his problems or make the situation better. Also the chances of killing the sheriff are extremely remote; with all the sheriff’s powerful friends and his growing resources (money and men) the chances of killing him are pretty slim. I’m pretty sure that if he were to kill the sheriff, another sheriff would be put into office that is just like the old sheriff, if not worse, because all of his powerful political friends he has are corrupt and they would most likely see to it that nothing changes and they are still getting their benefits.

What are the pros and cons of accepting the offer of the Barons to assist in securing King Richard’s release from prison? Do you think this is a good plan? Why or why not? The pros and cons of accepting the offer to assist the Barons in trying to release King Richard from jail are the following:

Pros

• He can campaign against the Sheriff and hopefully kick him out of office.
• He can get capital to better and expand his Merrymen Band.
• If he decides to join the Barons, Robin would be provided with future amnesty. If successful, Robin can return to living his life as a law abiding citizen.

Cons

• The proposition is dangerous
• If the plan is unsuccessful, Prince John’s pursuit to catch Robin will be relentless.

I believe this is a good plan because although it may be risky, there are more pros than cons, even though the cons are pretty extreme. By accepting the Barons offer, he can group some of his best men that he trust and knows, and seek to release King Richard. If successful, Robin can campaign the sheriff and Prince John out of office, which are his two biggest threats. This will give him a chance to live his life the way he did before, as a law abiding citizen, and he no longer needs to hide or steal from people.

What course of action of the above choices would you recommend to Robin? Be specific about why you chose this and how it helps with the threats/problems you identified in your SWOT analysis. The course of action that I recommend Robin should take is to join the Barons. I believe this to be the best course of action for Robin because among the choices he has, this one would be the most effective one.

It is a risky course of action to take but Robin has no other choice that will possibly put him in a better situation or solve his problems. By joining the Barons, Robin will have a chance to actually solve all his problems in one shot. He can delegate new lieutenant positions to men that he trusts and then break the band into groups where they are each trained and disciplined by one of his delegates. Then the Merrymen band can be well organized and strong to fight against anyone they may need to.

He can then try to help the Barons release King Richard from jail, which would then allow him amnesty and he is a free man to live a normal, law abiding life, where he no longer needs to hide, and he can then campaign against the sheriff which would take him out of office and Prince John as well, which would bring justice to the town. This course of action helps his problems because the sheriff would no longer be able to harass Robin or his band, Prince John wouldn’t be so powerful so he cannot have the resources to have spies to infiltrate the Merrymen Band or go after Robin.

Robin would also have the capital to be able to have his band well trained and with sufficient resources. If Robin and the Merrymen still decide to rob the rich, after amnesty has been granted to Robin, Robin will have the resources to better train, delegate new members, and have more resources to cover more areas of the forest. Robin and the Merrymen will be financially stable if they succeed releasing King Richard.

Any other route Robin were to decide to take, wouldn’t solve any of his problems because killing the sheriff is impossible and wouldn’t solve his problems, imposing a fixed transit tax would be unfair and unmoral to his biggest allies which are the farmers and townspeople, and expanding the Merrymen Band to cover more areas of the forest is currently not a good idea because he has no control of his men at the moment.

Make a list of the top four or five specific action steps (tactics) that he needs to take in order to implement this plan and turn it into action, not just words. review the Course Overview PowerPoint presentation for clarification on the difference between a plan (strategy) and the action steps (tactics) to make the plan happen. In order for Robin Hood to implement the above mentioned plan and turn it into action, he must first follow these five specific action steps (tactics):

• Recruit more lieutenants that can discipline and teach archery skills to the Merrymen Band.
• Get rid of the men that are weak and old.
• Join the Barons in their quest to free King Richard.
• Release King Richard from jail.
• Campaign against the sheriff and overthrow his powerful political friends.
• Show a new organization chart for Robin Hood and his men, based on whatever new course of action you recommend in question.

Write each person’s name and what they are responsible for doing. Below, you will find Robin Hood’s new organization chart. I believe that Robin should appoint more lieutenants because if the band of Merrymen is increasing in size, there needs to be an increase in management as well. Robin should elect trustful delegates, split the band into groups, and assign a delegate to each group that then reports to Much the Miller’s Son.

The delegate should then be in charge to discipline and train each member of his group. By doing this, Robin can have control of his Merrymen band, he can know the men he runs with, the men will be well trained and better organized.