INDIVIDUAL CASE ANALYSIS EXAM 1

Situation Analysis
Robin Hood and his Merrymen envision overthrowing the evil Sheriff and redistributing the wealth to the needy commoners. The current objective of the group is to pillage travelers and to give back to the community with no solid guidance to those engaged in those activities. In their pursuit of this endeavor they allowed men to join who may not have a complete sense of right and wrong; only those that had the drive to rise up against the Sheriff. Because of the lack of requirements for joining the group is not moving towards accomplishing to goal of de-seating the Sheriff and his allies. In fact, the Sheriff and his allies have with good communication and ample resources, have been able to raise enough defenses to retaliate and potentially put down the resistance. Robin Hood’s situation is one that is need of a solid purpose and strong values. In the business of pillaging and distribution of wealth the key stakeholders are Robin Hood, the original band of Merrymen, and the farmers and countrymen who provide for and enable the band. Robin Hood is expecting to be able to fulfill his need for vengeance against the current powers in charge. The employees are the original Merrymen who believe in Robin Hood’s vision; they also want to see it realized but they also receive a cut of the loot and depend on it for their livelihood. Consumers are the farmers and countrymen that depend on Robin Hood to protect them from over taxation and retaliation for not paying taxes; they also receive benefits from the pillages as one of Robin Hood’s main mission statements is to “Take from the rich and give to the poor.” If these expectations are unmet there could be dire consequences to the parties involved. Robin Hood could be put in jail or worse, killed. The Merrymen, if they do not meet the same fate, would have to find an alternative way to make a living and possibly turn to unbiased theft and pillaging. And finally, the farmers and countrymen would be faced with the rage of the Sherriff who would ravage their land and then expect larger payments to make up for the unpaid months during the revolution. Many farmers and countrymen would potentially lose all their assets and face death at the hands of the militia. | Strengths | Weaknesses | | Internal | 1. Grassroot Support
2. Strong Need
3. “Take from the rich, give to the poor”
4. Collaborative Effort | 1. Uncertain Funding
2. Weak Staffing
3. Lack of Training
4. Low Recruiting Standards
5. Lack of Organization | SWOT Analysis | External | 1. Community Support
2. Support from the Land
3. Potential Recruits from Far
4. Relevant Political Needs | 1. Against a Militia with Unlimited Funding
2. Low Recruiting Standards
3. Alternative Routes for Travelers (Leads to Decrease in Funding)
4. Increased Political Resistance | | | Opportunities | Threats | |

Issues Statement & Management Question The SWOT Analysis revealed that Robin Hood and his band of Merrymen have more weaknesses both internal and external than strengths in their current situation. Internal strengths include the support of the community which has a strong need to be protected. They have a very agreeable motto of “Take from the rich, give to the poor” which increases support from the community; their support extends to resources and all persons involved worked together to help with this effort. The external strengths again being with the community which supports them, the land which provides them food, and the reputation which brings them recruits from all over the land. There is also a strong political need to overthrow the corrupted government. The group’s weaknesses are plentiful starting with the uncertain funding as it comes from the pillage of rich travelers and the government treasury caravan. The staffing issue is also has many issues included; there is a weak sense of togetherness, there is little or no training, and the standards of allowing people to join is low. All of those issues with the added stress of disorganization within the group lead to a weak front against the Sherriff and his trained militia. The external weaknesses are just as overwhelming. The group is up against a trained militia with unlimited funding as well as the Sheriffs and Princes policies are making this endeavor more and more dangerous. Caravans and rich travelers who support the Sheriff are finding alternative routes to protect their wealth. In addition to these items the lack of standards for recruits are creating a dangerous climate; the potential for a spy to infiltrate the group and assist the government in defeating Robin Hood and his group is very high. Robin Hood has reason to be concerned; while the strengths of the band are noble the weaknesses are very large and increasingly becoming more dangerous to the bands activities. What policies does Robin Hood need to implement in order to strengthen his group and overcome the strength of his opponent?
Organizational Behavior Analysis
Robin Hood needs to take a serious look at his organizations behavior in order to reverse the issues he is facing right now. Sustainable development is especially important to a growing organization. Robin Hood is aware that the forest and the surrounding community are being taxed above its ability to provide as the group grows larger and larger. If the group over uses its resources before it achieves its goals this will create another weakness as the group suffers from conflicts and internal struggles for dwindling limited resources such as food or shelter. If this situation arises since the morals of the new members are not as steadfast as Robin Hood’s himself then they may turn on the very people they are attempting to protect. This would then create a situation where the farmers and countrymen are being taken advantage of by the Sherriff and now are being subjected to a new threat of bandits who have flocked from far lands to that area. To prevent this situation Robin Hood should use diversity competency to his advantage. As the newest members of his group are coming from far off lands and have different skills, abilities, and knowledge this could benefit the organization as a whole as they work together to use each person’s skills to become more efficient. Currently the tasks of major functions such as treasury accountability, organizing raids, keeping an eye on the Sherriff’s militia are all delegated to a small number of people who were in the original band of Merrymen. While Robin Hood feels that he can trust these individuals since he knows them, and they were brought together by similar senses of right and wrong, he may be stifling the group as a whole by doing this. Another benefit of having such a diverse group is exploiting the skills they were using prior to joining the band. Robin Hood could take an inventory of the skills that his current membership has and find that he has farmers or laborers who would benefit the group by creating more food sources as well as the possibility of having herders who could potentially assist with creating that food source as a sustainable means of supplying the band. Finally, moral intelligence is a concern for Robin Hood as he does not know personally all of the members of his group. As mentioned earlier the possibility that a scramble for resources could turn the band on the surrounding community or a spy could potentially infiltrate and destroy the band from within. As the mission of the Merrymen is to pillage from the rich and provide justice for the poor, the group must ensure that they are above board on all its actions. This will safeguard the band from being turned over to the Sherriff by the farmers and countrymen. Having moral intelligence as part of the requirement for a new recruit will also lower the chances that Robin Hood allows one of the Sherriff’s spies into their midst.
Identification and Evaluation of Alternatives
Restructure of Organization – This option would allow Robin Hood to take an inventory of the skills of current members. This information can be used to streamline processes that the organization currently engages in and reveal areas of opportunity that the organization can use to sustain them better. I would also recommend that during this option that Robin Hood also reviews the necessity of some of his members and downsize any non-essential personnel as a larger force, if untrained or without skill, would not benefit the organization. This option may also reveal how the organization has been hindering itself. Also when people are let go they may go to the Sherriff and divulge information that would hurt Robin Hood and his Merrymen.
Development of Organizational Commitment – Robin Hood should develop training or minimum qualifications for joining the organization. If all members of the organization are committed to the same values or end goal then they work better together. Members of organizations who work better together not only have more commitment to the organization but to each other; they then treat each other better and make sure that everyone’s needs are met. This will also decrease the chances of the band turning on the countrymen who protect and provide for them. Finally, having a minimum standard will lower the chances that a member is tempted to take a bribe for betraying the confidence of the group. One downfall of having organizational commitment is that the organization loses some of its diversity.
Establish Organizational Rewards – Rewarding individuals for positive behavior or finding solutions to a group problem encourages members of a group to do the right thing. A member who finds a solution to dwindling resources could be given better quarters or a larger percent of the next take. One problem that arises when establishing organizational rewards is the problem of what is a fair reward for a result. Also what happens when one member feels slighted or accuses another of taking their idea. This could result in more problems than solutions.
Recommended Alternative
I would recommend restructuring the organization over the other two options. Restructuring lays the foundation to resolve the issues that Robin Hood faces right now. He has an organization which is too large to sustain itself without taking on additional activities. Robin Hood could use the skills of other members to make the group more efficient and to increase resources. Developing organizational commitment only addresses one concern of Robin Hood and does not create a more sustainable environment. While establishing organizational rewards would encourage finding resolutions which would create a more sustainable environment, it would still not resolve the issue of efficiency or moral intelligence. Restructuring the organization would also lower the impact the group has on the surrounding community which would lower the stress on the environment.
Implementation and Conclusion
Implementing an overhaul of the current organization’s structure and foundation will be hard and will require a long term plan. Robin Hood will be faced with hurt feelings and potential security breaches to begin with. The people he thought were true to the cause or his friends may turn out to behave in a different manner once faced with the fact that their responsibilities are no longer their own but to be shared or redistributed.