How do some people sway public opinion where others fail? What's the secret behind personal influence? How important are connections? These have become all-important questions in our age of social networking. Social networks have expanded the influence of connections to unimaginable proportions. Clearly, there is business value to be derived from networks. It's no wonder then that the science of social networks has kindled interest among industry think tanks and corporate executives.Read more: http://bit.ly/Njs9MX

1. Insights
Deriving Business Value from Social Networks
- Dr. Jai Ganesh, Gopakumar
How can some people sway public opinion, where others fail? What’s the secret behind personal influence? How important
are connections? Research around networks sheds light on some of these questions, which have become all-important in
the age of social networking.
In 1929, in a short story called “Chains”, Hungarian writer Frigyes Karinthy introduced the idea – now famous as the Six
Degrees of Separation – that it takes no more than five intermediaries to connect any two people in the world to each
other. Dare we say that online social networking has compressed that chain further, and also expanded the influence of
connections to unimagined “Occupy Wall Street” and “Arab Spring” proportions?
Small wonder then, that the arcane science of social network research has sparked interest not only in academicians, but
also among industry think tanks and business organizations, which realize that there is immense value to be derived from
these networks.
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2. Application of Network Ideas
The exchanges taking place in social networking environments go beyond
providing direct value to participants. In fact, businesses can wield approaches
based on social network analysis as powerful levers, at different levels of the
organization, to serve different goals. Let’s elaborate that by taking the example
of the banking industry.
OVERVIEW
A bank can study social opinion to gather early insight into the perception of
its brands, products and services. This could be particularly valuable before a
new product launch, should user feedback highlight certain issues that the
bank may have overlooked. A leading Canadian Bank introduced a new mobile
Essentially, network studies seek to banking app to employees, who not only tested the product but also identified
identify the nature and structure other opportunities. Thanks to this feedback, the Bank was able to deliver the
of connections among various ideal app to customers.
individuals or entities (organizations,
That being said, how can organizations deconstruct the incessant broadcasting
websites, customer records and so
of customer opinion over social media into meaningful, actionable information?
on), called “nodes” and their impact
The answer lies in mining the collective intelligence of the community, which
on different events and decisions.
is latent in the content of discussion threads, chat room conversations, blogs,
Accordingly, networks can significantly
ratings et al.
influence an organization’s ability to
achieve business goals, especially in Such analysis can identify dominant sentiments, views and experiences discussed
present times when the chatter on in social media that are important from an organization’s strategic perspective.
social media, mobile and other online It can also pinpoint key forums, websites and maybe even individuals exerting
channels is creating an overload of maximum influence over shaping the image of the firm, its products and services.
network related information – 2 billion The last one is extremely valuable information, which flies below the radar of
exabytes annually, at last count! most banking organizations, which typically stratify the importance of their
customers by the size of their bank account. Just to cite an example – a global
Used right, this information is a
bank executive confessed that a particular individual, who qualified as a “low
goldmine for businesses, which can
service” customer, actually had 100,000 followers on Twitter!
formulate focused actions targeted to
the needs of different constituencies, Market sentiment analysis techniques reveal how customers feel about an
such as markets, customers and enterprise, a brand, a product or service. The results of this analysis can be
employees. There’s enough evidence enhanced by combining them with the content of customers’ posts, which in
from research studies to show that turn would enable banking organizations to respond better to the sentiments
network factors strongly influence expressed by the key influencers in the network.
brand image, adoption of new The next logical step for banks is to persuade key influencers and early adopters
products and services, pricing and to exert “desired” influences over others within their network, such as spreading
promotion, employee performance, excitement about a new product, or expressing confidence in a new service. For
innovation, and the ability of instance, they could ask a set of influential customers to try out a new product
organizations to change. like a digital wallet and talk about various aspects of the experience, such as
usability and security, to a wider group. By identifying the best “seeding points”
that is, well-connected people at the hub of social networks who will latch on
to a product and promote it widely amongst the people they know, network
analysis can improve the efficacy of communication campaigns.
So far, industries other than banking have cracked the code. A global automotive
company famously gave out 100 cars of a new model before its official launch to
social media enthusiasts to try out for 6 months. In return, all that these people
had to do was talk about their experience in social media, which the company
put up on its website without making any changes! The opening sales were
spectacular to say the least.
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3. There’s another very important reason why organizations must “club”, it has a big chance of succeeding with the rest. In fact, this
monitor the activities of the key influencers among their customers, is the driving principle behind the wealth management business.
and that is to mitigate churn. Social influence cuts both ways; so
Social networking can play a big role in improving organizational
even as it fosters positive behavior, it can do exactly the opposite
effectiveness when the connections are between the right people.
as well. It has been observed that when an influencer leaves
The leaders in every organization try hard to organize their people in
his banking service provider, he takes others with him or stops
the best way to “get the job done”. Network analysis often provides
potential customers from coming on board. Banks must guard
powerful and unique insights into whether the actual flow of work
against allowing something like this to assume viral proportions.
and communication between members is aligned with the goals of
Once again, by using social network data (including centrality, the group. In other words, it enables the organization to diagnose
degree of centrality, number of friends and followers) to enrich work efficiency.
models, which predict churn, banks can take evasive action.
Network analysis also reveals patterns of formal and informal
The network approach focuses on the patterns of relationships connections among members of specific functions, divisions or
among individuals. One of its key findings is that like-minded business groups, and their impact on business goals. Studies have
individuals are more likely to stay connected with each other, and consistently shown that well managed network connectivity is
are more likely to share interests, ideas, norms and even behaviors. critical to performance, learning and innovation.
Therefore, if a bank manages to get through to one member of this
Last but not least – and certainly not in the banking context! – network analysis can be applied to customer risk modeling. Enhancing existing risk
models with customers’ social networking information could give banks an inkling about possible credit risks or fraudsters. After all wouldn’t they
like to know if a potential customer has a number of friends who are proud to be habitual defaulters?
http://socialmediatoday.com/emoderation/546814/how-retail-and-investment-
banks-are-using-social-media-case-studies
Reference
http://hbr.org/2011/07/whats-your-social-media-strategy/ar/1
http://practicalsocialmedia.com/general/ford-fiesta-a-successful-social-media-
marketing-example/
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4. About the Authors
Dr. Jai Ganesh
Principal Research Scientist at Centre of Innovation for Tomorrow’s Enterprise, Infosys Labs
Research and innovation leader with expertise in intellectual property creation, thought leadership, technology
strategy and new product development. Jai obtained his PhD in management from Indian Institute of Management
Bangalore (IIMB) and also hold an MBA. Jai is a recipient of the Chevening Rolls-Royce Science and Innovation
Leadership scholarship at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on Pervasive Computing, Adaptive enterprises,
Hypercompetitive businesses, Social Network Analysis, Social Media, Social Movements, Web Accessibility & Usability,
Augmented Reality and Immersive Interaction Technologies.
Jai has also published in a number of leading peer reviewed journals and conferences and serve as a reviewer for a
number of peer-reviewed journals and conferences. He conceptualized and led the development of iProwe which is
the first patented product for Web Accessibility & Usability Assessment and Remediation.
Gopakumar
Senior Research Scientist at Centre of Innovation for Tomorrow’s Enterprise, Infosys Labs
Gopakumar is a senior research scientist at Centre of Innovation for Tomorrow’s Enterprise (CITE) in Infosys Labs. He
has over 10 years of experience in leading important talent and organization development programs at leading firms.
At Centre for Innovation, he is leading a series of research projects that applies network perspectives to improve
organizational effectiveness and harness social media intelligence. He has presented in top international conferences
such as Academy of Management (AoM) annual meeting, Academy of Human Resource Development (AHRD) annual
conference, Strategic Management Society (SMS) conference, and International Network for Social Network Analysis
(INSNA) Sunbelt conference
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