I’ve written a number of times about business novels, which I define as employing a story, parable, or fable that conveys business principles or lessons. Here, I recapped those I’ve featured on this blog, and here, I added a broader list by Omar Adams.

Now joining that roster of books is Stefan Swanepoel’s Surviving Your Serengeti: 7 Skills to Master Business and Life, described on its Web site as “compelling … fable [that] offers a riveting tale of life in Africa’s Serengeti and what lessons it holds for today’s beleaguered business people and struggling society.”

The book offers a clever “hook,” an online quiz that enables folks to determine what animal they are based on their strongest business-survival skills.

My husband took the quiz before I did, and we were both tickled that he was a giraffe. Because he is very tall, we decided years ago that his “theme animal” is giraffe, and he collects giraffe figurines. Because my eyes are cat-like and because of my shortened name (Kat), I collect cat figurines and claim cat as my theme animal. This, I was hoping my quiz result would be cheetah.

Here, in a nutshell are the survival skills of the seven featured animals: wildebeest rely on stubborn endurance and support from the herd to survive; the crocodile is opportunistic; the cheetah ruthlessly effective; the giraffe embodies grace, the lion a master strategist, the mongoose is a risk-taker, the elephant is an excellent communicator.

Well, I guess I’m not ruthlessly effective. Indeed, the quiz showed me to be a crocodile. While in most assessments I fall into a result with a low proportion of members, crocodile has been the result for the largest chunk (27 percent) of people who’ve taken the quiz online so far.

Enterprising? I guess so. And I suppose I am resourceful, show initiative, and think outside the box. To a lesser extent, I’m determined to succeed and dedicated to advancing myself. The trait most like me: the tendency to spend a lot of time working alone.

Another cool bonus on the book’s Web site is that my friend Sean Buvala after seeing an advance copy of the book, “reflected on what the messages meant to him and decided to create some short stories based on the wisdom and truths in the book. These stories aren’t in the book, but inspired by the book.” They are available as podcasts here.

Anyway, the parable that forms the heart of the book features husband and wife Sean and Ashley Spencer. Ashley is a teacher-turned-sales-rep who has won a three-day trip to the Serengeti in a sales contest. Sean is an entrepreneur whose business hasn’t quite gelled.

Early in the trip, Sean is reunited with an old schoolmate, Zachariah, who turns out to be their guide through the Serengeti. Each animal they encounter becomes a metaphor for a business survival skill — “The travelers in the safari see in the Serengeti the essence of life itself, and find a roadmap for mastering the difficulties and struggles we all experience every day.” In the end, the learn, of course, that while one set of animal traits may predominate in each individual, successful business people need to integrate all seven skills.

The book, releasing this week (March 1), is a quick and easy read at 176 pages with large type.