Organisational Behaviour Theories and Stereotyping

Discuss about the Overt Stereotype Biases and Discrimination.

With the growing popularity of globalisation and digitalisation, companies are able to expand their operations overseas which require them to deal with people from different culture, race, background and religion. It is important that corporations implement policies for human resource management (HRM) to maintain a positive working environment and motivate employees. According to Alfes et al. (2013), a positive relationship between management and employees is crucial since it promotes upward communications and it enables management to motivate employees for improving their performance. In order to avoid offending an employee or creating a positive bonding, managers rely on stereotypes while interacting with employees. A stereotype is described as a general image or set of attributes regarding a group or person that a significant number of people believe to be true (Von Hippel, Sekaquaptewa and McFarlance, 2015). It represents a thought or belief that is widely accepted by a large number of people about an entire group or specifies type of individuals’ behaviour or characteristics. In multinational organisations, it is common for top-level executives to rely on stereotypes while dealing with employees from different culture, race or background in order to avoid any incident that might offend their beliefs. However, excessive reliance on stereotypes can negatively affect an organisation because each individual is different from another and categorising them into a group might offend their feeling (Malos, 2015). This essay will argue the role of stereotypes in companies and analyse how management use them while dealing with employees. This essay will evaluate the significance of stereotypes by critically analysing its advantages and disadvantages. Further, organisational behaviour theories will be discussed in the report for proving recommendations for organisations.

Organisational behaviour is a study of individuals in an organisational setting which assists management in creating more efficient business operations and positive relations between management and employees (Fisher and To, 2012). Organisational behaviour theories focus on establishing a supportive and motivating culture in the organisation, and stereotyping can either positively or negatively affect the company’s culture. While performing different human resource activities, managers rely on stereotypes for filing incomplete information and creating positive relations with employees. For example, during recruitment and selection process, HR managers might be influenced by ‘selective perception’ based on stereotypes. Selective perception is referred to a process through which people perceive what they want to perceive in media messages (Ray, 2015). Individuals selectively interpret based on the basis of their interest, experience, attitudes, and background. Similarly, during an interview, HR managers can perceive a job applicant based on their previous experience with another person from the same religion, caste, race or background, and they can create a negative impression about the job candidate because the person belongs to a specific group. This is stereotyping, and it contradicts human rights legislation. However, it is human nature tendency to gather people into groups based on general impressions (Cheung and Wu, 2014). Similarly, managers might promote one employee over another based on their previous experience with specific religious group. For example, it is a common stereotype that Germans are efficient and methodical and Jews are ambitious. However, every person is different from another, and each individual has different set of characteristics which differentiate them from another. Therefore, taking organisational decisions based on stereotypes can negatively affect a company’s operations and working environment.

Positive and Negative Implications of Using Stereotypes in Companies

There are both positive and negative implications of using stereotypes in a corporation. Stereotypes usually occur when managers judge a person based on the group to which the employee belongs to. Especially, at the workplace, sometimes, managers have to assume a person thinking or behaviour in order to interact effectively. It is difficult for executives to learn about every employee, and during the interaction, they can make any joke or statement that might offend the person (Czopp, Kay and Cheryan, 2015). However, managers can rely on stereotypes as they are to avoid this situation and it can result in establishing a positive working environment in the firm. For example, if a manager is meeting a new client or an employee from another culture for the first time, then usually the first thing that he/she do is to gather information about the person’s culture. As per Finkelstein, King and Voyles (2015), this information is often highly generalised and based on such information, the manager makes assumptions about a person’s character and beliefs. Due to prior knowledge regarding a person’s culture, the manager can ensure that he/she did not offend them by taking any action that might be considered as offensive in the employee’s culture (Berdahl and Min, 2012). For example, being late in meetings is considered as rude and insulting in Germany. Therefore, while meeting with a German employee, the manager can avoid being late in the meeting which creates a positive relationship between them. Similarly, while interacting with each other, employees can also take into consideration different cultural, religion or race differences that create a positive working environment.

However, along with advantages, there are many negative implications of excessive stereotyping at a workplace that result in increasing conflicts between employees and management and decreasing their productivity. Stereotyping is useful as long as it is correct; issues arise when it turns out to be incorrect. Every person has a distinct human nature, and it is unlikely that every person will perfectly fit into a specific stereotype. According to Bashir et al. (2013), no person likes to judge based on wrong facts and stereotyping can make employees angry because rather than focusing on their personal attributes, managers judge them based on their cultural or religious factors. Employees who are working hard to achieve their targets might get discouraged if managers promote people based on stereotypes rather than performance. It causes low morale among the workers which negatively affect their productive performance. Similarly, while implementing motivational strategies, excessive reliance on stereotypes can negatively affect employees’ morale (Pedulla, 2014). Another issue with stereotyping is that if employees see management relying on stereotypes, then they might think that management promotes stereotyping, and they can use them as well. It can lead to open displays of stereotyping and mistreatment among employees because they will judge each other based on stereotypes. Kunze, Boehm and Bruch (2013) stated that it could also increase disputes among employees which creates a hostile working environment in which it is difficult for management to motive employees and improve their performance. While working in teams, stereotyping can create conflicts among team members which hinder the performance of the entire organisation. Therefore, in comparison to its benefits, the negative implications of excessive stereotyping are more detrimental to an organisation’s productivity and growth.

Significance of Diversity Management

Many recent studies on organisational behaviour topic have proven the negative implications of excessive stereotyping. Diversity management is a crucial requirement for multinational organisations since effective management leads to generating a competitive advantage for the enterprise (Patrick and Kumar, 2012). Stereotyping negatively affects the diversity management in a company, and it leads to increasing disputes between employees from different culture or religion. In order to address these issues, corporations can implement different organisational behaviour theories for addressing these issues. For example, while motivating employees, managers should not rely on stereotypes, instead, they should implement policies based on employees’ requirements. Hierarchy of needs theory given by Abraham Maslow is a good example. The theory divided human needs into five categories which include physiological, safety, belongingness, esteem and self-actualisation needs (Alasousi and Alajmi, 2017). These needs are based on human nature rather than stereotypes which assist managers in effectively assessing employees’ requirements and fulfil them in order to motivate them. However, recent studies on organisational behaviour argue that this theory is old and irrelevant for modern enterprises. Rutledge (2011) argued in her research that social requirements of people have changed, and she provided a rewired model of the hierarchy of needs that focuses on social aspects that have become a crucial part in people’s lives. Managers can also take proactive actions for avoiding stereotyping at the workplace such as teaching employees about characteristics of different culture and religion so that they did not rely on stereotypes. Emerson and Murphy (2014) provided that taking strict actions against employees that use stereotypes while interacting with others to show the management did not support stereotyping at the workplace. An organisational culture that effectively manages diversity among employees results in improving the company’s performance which generates a competitive advantage for the enterprise.

From the above observations, it can be concluded that there are both positive and negative implications of stereotyping at a workplace. However, excessive stereotyping can negatively affect a company’s performance because it can cause disputes among employees and decrease their morale. In order to effectively manage diversity in the workplace, managers should not rely on stereotypes, and they should take corrective actions to restrict employees from using stereotypes in the workplace as well. Managers rely on stereotypes to create a positive relationship and avoid insensitive remarks while meeting employees from another culture or religion. However, it can be perceived by other employees that management supports open displays of stereotyping and mistreatment of employees and it can encourage them to judge others based on their caste, religion or race. In order to avoid stereotyping, HR management can take proactive actions such as teaching employees regarding different cultures, taking strict actions against employees that use stereotypes and promoting a diverse culture. It can assist companies in effectively managing diversity in the workplace and sustain their overall growth.

References

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Bashir, N.Y., Lockwood, P., Chasteen, A.L., Nadolny, D. and Noyes, I. (2013) The ironic impact of activists: Negative stereotypes reduce social change influence. European Journal of Social Psychology, 43(7), pp.614-626.

Berdahl, J.L. and Min, J.A. (2012) Prescriptive stereotypes and workplace consequences for East Asians in North America. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 18(2), p.141.

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Emerson, K.T. and Murphy, M.C. (2014) Identity threat at work: How social identity threat and situational cues contribute to racial and ethnic disparities in the workplace. Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology, 20(4), p.508.

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Malos, S. (2015) Overt Stereotype Biases and Discrimination in the Workplace: Why Haven’t We Fixed This by Now?. Employee Responsibilities and Rights Journal, 27(4), pp.271-280.

Patrick, H.A. and Kumar, V.R. (2012) Managing workplace diversity: Issues and challenges. Sage Open, 2(2), p.2.

Pedulla, D.S. (2014) The positive consequences of negative stereotypes: Race, sexual orientation, and the job application process. Social Psychology Quarterly, 77(1), pp.75-94.

Ray, R. (2015) ‘If Only He Didn’t Wear the Hoodie…’: Selective Perception and Stereotype Maintenance. In Getting Real About Race: Hoodies, Mascots, Model Minorities, and Other Conversations. Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, pp.81-93.

Rutledge, P.B. (2011) Social Networks: What Maslow Misses. [Online] Psychology Today. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/positively-media/201111/social-networks-what-maslow-misses-0 [Accessed 12 April 2018].

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