MANAGEMENT

Entrepreneur, April, 2001 by Ellen Paris

e-TROUBLE?

Spotting e-business red flags

Is your e-business sickly? You may have an e-bug. The good news: Recognizing an illness is the first step toward recovery.

So says a recent Accenture report, Governance at eSpeed, which looked at the 10 warning signs of a faltering e-business. "Business owners have to expect the way they manage and govern their e-business to change as they become successful," explains Brian Pappas, associate partner at Accenture in Boston.

Here are a few signs to look out for:

1. No experience "clicking around": If you're not a hands-on e-business user yourself, then you probably don't have a feel for what works in the dotcom world.

2. No external profile: Does the world even know you exist? To raise your e-business profile, network with well-known business and technology leaders.

3. No decisions ... or slow decisions: Exploratory committees, project teams and pilot programs make good e-business sense--just don't forget to move swiftly on your findings.

4. No passion: Most successful dotcom employees are passionate about what they are doing. Are yours?

ROLL WITH THE PUNCHES

Trouble and strife--just how well do you handle them?

Your ability to handle adversity may matter more than an innovative product or key opportunity, according to Gideon Markman, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at the Lally School of Management and Technology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York. Markman recently studied and measured the adversity quotient (AQ) of 200 patent inventors and found their responses to adversity made all the difference between success and failure.

An AQ is simply the measurable pattern of how individuals respond to adversity of all types. If you retreat from problems rather than meet them head-on, your AQ is probably pretty low. AQ scores range from 40 to 200, with 147.5 being the international average.

The good news is, your AQ can be improved. AQ improvement workshops are offered around the country (see "Next Step," above). So the next time adversity strikes, don't shrink back; learn how to move forward.

FIT FOR WORK

Everyone wins with health promotion programs.

It may be too late for flu season, but keeping your workers healthy year-round is a great way to decrease absenteeism and improve morale. Free cancer screenings, educational seminars and flu shots may not sound like fun perks, but employees appreciate them.

The popularity of health promotion programs is on the rise. "It's a way to control health-care costs and enhance the health and productivity of employees," says Camille Haltom, a health-care consultant with Hewitt Associates, a management consulting firm in Lincolnshire, Illinois. The most popular offerings include seminars and workshops on lifestyle habits, screenings for high blood pressure and cholesterol, and flu vaccinations.

What's the cost? Depends on what you're offering. A basic cholesterol screening can run between $5 and $6 per person, flu shots cost about $20 per person, and a mobile mammography unit can top $120 per person. Of course, you could always have your employees pay--the convenience is the main thing.

To implement a program, contact your local hospitals and visiting nurse associations. Many have community and employer outreach programs that provide staff, equipment and supplies for these services.

Ellen Paris is a Washington, DC, writer and former Forbes magazine staff writer.