Take The E-Business Readiness Quiz

Take The E-Business Readiness Quiz

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA--Businesses around the globe are exploring the opportunities and challenges of transforming themselves through the Internet, and Penn State's eBusiness Research Center now offers a free online quiz ( http://www.ebrc.psu.edu/extras/survey.html ) that allows businesses to assess their e-business readiness.

The e-Business Adoption Index is made up of 33 questions about some of the internal management systems at an organization. These are grouped into Vision, Governance and Execution using the Leadership Pyramid described in the recently published book, Pushing the Digital Frontier: Insights into the Changing Landscape of E-Business. Respondents use a 5-point scale to answer questions.

"Vision, governance and execution all play significant roles in creating and sustaining a successful e-business. The index gives a balanced perspective of the elements critical to a company's successful entry into the realm of e-business," says Nirmal Pal, director of Penn State's eBusiness Research Center (eBRC) and co-editor of Pushing the Digital Frontier .

Sample questions include: Our organization has a clearly defined vision for e-business adoption; Our e-business vision has been communicated to all stakeholders and is shared by all in our organization; Our organization has a plan to re-examine the vision periodically.

"The quiz provides a focused framework around which a company's top managers can discuss and negotiate their overall e-business strategy and initiative portfolio," says Judith Ray, senior research associate at the eBRC and co-editor of Pushing the Digital Frontier.

After answering all 33 questions, a score is calculated. 1 through 20 = e-Business Beginner; 21 through 40 = e-Business Conscious; 41 through 60 = e-Business Knowledgeable; 61 through 80 = e-Business Dexterous; 81 through 99 = e-Business Leader.

The e-Business Adoption Index is taken from the book chapter, "Rebalancing Management in the Emerging E-Marketspace: From Control to Leadership," which Pal co-authored with David Partridge of IBM Corporation's e-Business Innovation Institute.

The chapter provides more detail and recommendations on each of the points as well as the framework as a whole. The framework is also the overarching organizing principle for the book, so the other chapters provide more detail and additional conceptual frameworks as well.

Pushing the Digital Frontier offers the latest research findings along with examples of what organizations are doing to transform themselves from traditional firms to successful e-businesses. The book also provides guidance on how organizations can leverage old economy fundamentals in the new world and restructure for e-responsiveness. A blue ribbon panel of renowned thought leaders from the corporate and academic worlds contributed various chapters of this book, with individual authors drawing from their personal experiences and expertise in their areas of focus.

Ten faculty members and researchers from Penn State's Smeal College of Business contributed to the book: Judy Olian, Dean; Fariborz Ghadar, director of the Center for Global Business Studies; Rocki-Lee DeWitt, associate professor of management and the associate dean of professional master's programs; Michael E. Brown and Kevin G. Corley, Ph.D. students in management and organization; Dennis A. Gioia, professor of organizational behavior; Hemant K. Bhargava, professor of management information systems; and Albert A. Vicere, professor of business administration.

The eBRC-a joint effort of Penn State's Smeal College of Business and the School of Information Sciences and Technology --promotes research by academics and practitioners on various aspects of e-business, with emphasis on governance and execution issues. The primary mission of eBRC is to foster, expand, and disseminate theoretical, empirical and applied research in e-business and to bring research insights to its supporting members and help them with e-business practice.

Pushing the Digital Frontier is published by AMACOM (the publishing division of the American Management Association). The book lists for $27.99 and is available online through Amazon.com and Barnesandnoble.com .