Management, 11th Edition

Chapter 14. Individual Behavior

Chapter 14 Study Questions

1. How do perceptions influence individual behavior?

2. What should we know about personalities in the workplace?

3. How do attitudes influence individual behavior?

4. What are the dynamics of emotions, moods, and stress?

Learning From Others: There Are Personalities Behind Those Faces

The headline reads: "Spanx queen leads from the bottom line." The story begins: Woman, unhappy with the way she looks in white pants, cuts the feet off a pair of panty hose, puts them on, and attends party feeling great. The story continues: Sara Blakely founds Spanx, Inc.

"I knew this could open up so many women's wardrobes," Blakely says, "All women have that clothing in the back of the closet that they don't wear because they don't like the way it looks." With $5,500 and the idea for "body-shaping" underwear, she set out to start a business. But the pathway to profits wasn't always a straight line; someone else with the same idea may not have succeeded. Yet Blakely did; her unique blend of skills and personality made it all work.

Blakely had experience with and a passion for direct selling, and she was diligent in researching patents and trademarks. When her first attempts to convince manufacturers to make product samples met with resistance—with one calling it "a crazy idea," she persisted until one agreed. She wanted to place Spanx in "high-end" department stores. When store after store turned her down, Blakely kept at it. Persistence paid off again when ...