Social Network Analysis: Who is Promoting Net Promoter? Custom Case Solution & Analysis

1. Evidence Brief

Financial Metrics

Cost of Net Promoter Score - NPS - implementation: Not explicitly stated, though resource allocation includes internal management time and external SNA consultancy fees.
Customer Retention Value: Case implies a 5 percent increase in retention correlates with significant profit growth, though specific dollar amounts are absent.
Survey Response Rate: 85 percent of the 120 targeted employees participated in the social network survey.

Operational Facts

Organization Size: 120 employees across three primary departments: Sales, Product Development, and Customer Support.
SNA Metrics: Analysis focused on three specific indicators: Degree Centrality - direct connections -, Betweenness Centrality - information gatekeeping -, and Closeness Centrality - proximity to all others.
Geography: Single headquarters location with remote sales teams.
Communication Flow: Informal networks show significant silos between Product Development and Sales, despite formal reporting lines suggesting integration.

Stakeholder Positions

CEO: Primary sponsor of the NPS initiative. Views NPS as the central metric for future growth.
Head of Customer Support: High formal authority but moderate informal influence. Strong supporter of the change.
Senior Developer - Anonymous in data -: Highest betweenness centrality. Currently skeptical of NPS. This individual acts as a bottleneck for information flow to the Product team.
Sales Lead: High degree centrality. Publicly supports NPS but privately expresses concerns about compensation alignment.

Information Gaps

Individual Compensation Structures: The case does not detail how bonuses are currently calculated, which impacts NPS adoption.
Historical Change Success Rate: No data on previous failed or successful initiatives to benchmark current resistance.
Customer Feedback Data: While the case focuses on internal promotion of NPS, it lacks the actual customer sentiment data that triggered the initiative.

2. Strategic Analysis

Core Strategic Question

How can the organization identify and convert informal influencers to prevent the NPS initiative from stalling in departmental silos?

Structural Analysis

The Social Network Analysis reveals a disconnect between the formal hierarchy and the actual flow of influence. While the CEO mandates NPS, the information gatekeepers - those with high betweenness centrality - are not aligned. This creates a structural blockage. The Product Development team operates as a closed network, largely insulated from the customer-centric goals of the Sales and Support teams. Without bridging these cliques, NPS remains a departmental metric rather than an organizational philosophy.

Strategic Options

Preliminary Recommendation

The organization must pursue Targeted Influencer Conversion immediately. The SNA data identifies specific individuals who hold the power to accelerate or kill the initiative. Engaging these informal leaders privately to address their skepticism is more effective than broad-based internal marketing. This approach addresses the root cause of resistance: lack of buy-in from the nodes that control the organizational narrative.

3. Implementation Roadmap

Critical Path

Month 1: Validation of SNA findings through confidential interviews with high-centrality nodes.
Month 2: Deployment of Influencer Task Force. Assign high-betweenness skeptics to lead specific NPS integration workstreams.
Month 3: Alignment of departmental KPIs. Shift from individual metrics to shared NPS targets.

Key Constraints

Data Privacy Concerns: Employees may react negatively to being mapped in a social network, fearing surveillance.
Cultural Inertia: The Product Development team views NPS as a Sales metric, not a technical requirement.
Executive Patience: The CEO expects immediate results, but informal network shifts take months to solidify.

Risk-Adjusted Implementation Strategy

The strategy focuses on the 90-day window. If the high-betweenness nodes in Product Development do not show a shift in sentiment by day 45, the implementation must pivot to a formal mandate with structural reporting changes. Contingency planning includes the identification of secondary influencers - those with high degree centrality but lower current influence - to act as a backup network for information dissemination.

4. Executive Review and BLUF

BLUF

The NPS initiative will fail without the active support of four specific informal influencers in Product Development. The Social Network Analysis shows these individuals control the flow of information across the firm. Formal authority is insufficient here. Management must pivot from broad internal communications to a targeted engagement strategy. Convert the gatekeepers or abandon the current rollout timeline. Speed is secondary to alignment.

Dangerous Assumption

The analysis assumes that identifying an influencer is equivalent to having the ability to influence them. It presumes these individuals are rational actors who will support NPS if given more information or a leadership role, ignoring potential deep-seated ideological opposition to the metric.

Unaddressed Risks

Ethical Backlash: Using SNA data to target individuals for conversion may be perceived as manipulative, leading to a collapse in organizational trust. Probability: Moderate. Consequence: High.
Metric Gaming: If influencers are forced to promote NPS, they may encourage staff to manipulate survey results rather than improve actual customer experience. Probability: High. Consequence: Moderate.

Unconsidered Alternative

The team failed to consider a bottom-up approach. Instead of targeting top-down or informal leaders, the firm could empower the periphery - new hires and junior staff who are not yet embedded in the existing silos - to build a new, parallel network that bypasses current gatekeepers.

Verdict

APPROVED FOR LEADERSHIP REVIEW

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Write

Option	Rationale	Trade-offs	Resources
Targeted Influencer Conversion	Focus resources on the top 5 informal leaders identified via SNA.	High impact if successful; risks alienating formal managers.	Executive coaching; 1-on-1 time.
Cross-Functional Bridge Teams	Create task forces using high-closeness individuals to link silos.	Improves information flow; slows down immediate decision making.	Operational budget for pilot projects.
Incentive Realignment	Tie compensation directly to NPS across all departments.	Forces alignment; may cause short-term turnover in Product.	HR and Finance restructuring.