Measuring readiness for e-learning: Reflections from an emerging country

Abstract

In order to benefit from e-learning, companies should conduct considerable up-front analysis to assess their readiness. There are a number of instruments in the market that can be used for assessing readiness for e-learning. However, almost all of these instruments are developed to be used in countries that have a mature field of human resources development. So, these instruments consist of terms, phrases, and applications that are meaningless for many companies in especially emerging countries where human resources development field has just shown an improvement. This article includes the description of a survey instrument that has been developed to assess e-learning readiness of companies in these kinds of countries and the results of a study that examines organizational readiness of companies for e-learning in Turkey. The study reveals that companies surveyed are overall ready for e-learning but they need to improve need to improve themselves, particularly in the area of human resources, in order to be able to successfully implement e-learning. Although this instrument has been developed according to the cultural characteristics of Turkish companies it can easily be adapted to be used by companies of other emerging countries.