Organizational Behaviour Essay: Stereotypes vs. Cultural Understanding

This essay delves into the topic of organizational behavior, specifically examining the role of stereotypes in the workplace. It explores the Mars model, perception, and the advantages and disadvantages of relying on stereotypes versus developing genuine cultural understanding. The essay discusses how stereotypes can impact decision-making, employee engagement, and conflict resolution within diverse organizations. It also touches upon barriers to diversity and the importance of managerial intervention in fostering a positive and inclusive work environment. The author reflects on the complexities of the topic, concluding that while stereotypes can offer quick decision-making, a deeper understanding of individuals and cultures is crucial for long-term organizational success and ethical practice. The essay highlights the need for organizations to balance simplification with a commitment to valuing individual differences to improve organizational performance.

Organisational
Behaviour

Topic: “It is better to rely on stereotypes than to enter into a relationship with someone from
another culture without any idea of what they believe in.”
Introduction
Organisational behaviour is an amalgamation of two terms i.e. organisation and
behaviour. It is defined to be a field of study which examines behaviour of individual within
institution and identify measures through which it could be influenced positively (Suppiah and
Singh Sandhu, 2011). An organisation consists of people belonging to different culture and
ethnicities work together for a shared purpose which makes it essential for management to take
up measures through which productivity and profitability could be maintained.
Individual Behaviour defines manner in which a person reacts to varied circumstances in
his lifetime. The individual behaviour is backed by numerous factors such as personality, values,
beliefs and perception which tend to influence his reaction to various circumstance (Dohmen and
et. al., 2011). It has been extremely organisation to undertake initiatives which tend to influence
behaviour of an individual in more productive manner. There can be numerous theories which
are undertaken to understand behaviour of a person such as Mars model, MBTI and personality
traits approach. Stereotyping is an approach in which in which a general set of characteristics
defines the group to which a person belongs. The major areas which are undertaken in this
simplification are sex, race, age, physical appearance and most importantly religion. There is
lesser role of experience in stereotyping and mostly relies upon social perception relating to that
group.
Theories and Models
The reason for which stereotyping are perceived better than having no knowledge is that
they provide familiarity with a person to a marginal extent which is definitely better than not
knowing a person at all. The prime theory which has been emphasized is Mars model. This
model defines measures through which behaviour of an individual could be influenced within an
organisation. This model emphasizes on personality of individual and its channelising so that
better organisational goals are fulfilled. A business consist of numerous people working together
possessing distinct behaviour which can be categorised on the performance grounds, citizenship,
counter productive and attendance. The categorisation of the employees on the basis of their
types of personality through Big 5 personality model. This is most influential approach which

tend to generate performance based outcomes at the same time making sure behaviour of
employees are maintained. The application of this model in the business environment tend to be
beneficial as it improves performance of individuals along with promoting a positive behaviour
which is reflected through labour turnover in an organisation. The major roles which has been
played in this domain are the motivation tactics combined with promoting positive behaviour and
perceptions which tend to influence positively upon organisational performance. It is very
important to conduct an examination upon internal circumstances of business so that right theory
could be applied. The most suitable approach is Mars model which undertake division of
workforce of an organisation on grounds of personality, values, perceptions, attitude and stress
approaches. Categorisation of such factors helps in division of people on grounds of Motivation,
Ability, role perceptions and situational factors which helps in deriving positive results and
behaviour out of individuals.
Perception and stereotyping
Perception is referred to as mechanism which revolves around transforming sensory
stimuli into meaningful information. The process of interpretation of information which has been
obtained through sound, speech, touch and taste is known to be perception. The manner in which
in categorisation of stereotypes and explanation of self-behaviour is defined in this approach.
The perception of an individual carries a direct impact upon its interpretation, organisation and
stereotyping. It is a normal tendency of a human to evaluate an non-consciously categorise
individuals on the basis of their similarity, proximity and common fate. The thinking of an
individual automatically categorises people on the basis of their social groups which can be
further be categorised on the in-groups and out-groups. It has been known that stereotyping
arises due to formation of complex combination among factors such as cognitive, emotional and
inter-group factors. The perception helps in categorisation of complex behaviour and
personalities on simplified grounds so that a general figure could be formulated.
The understanding of the process of perception through focusing on the mental models
help in making sense of out of new and unproductive events. The level of interaction between
members in the organisation definitely enhances through understanding of mental models of
perception (Burnard and Bhamra, 2011). Therefore it is essential to focus on measures which
assist in improving perception with the help of indicators so that diversity in the organisation

could be enhanced. When the workforce of an organisation comprises of people with different
background and culture help in generating of ideas which can impact organisational performance
in a positive manner. Cross-cultural aspects in the organisation when managed ideally helps in
achieving distinct position in the operating market.
Barriers to diversity
Diversity could be identified as one of the major challenge which has been encountered
by an organisation. It is known to be a difficulty to manage people within organisation belonging
from various culture and regions. The global initiatives which are undertaken by an organisation
can be successfully implement with the help of diversity exclusively. The major problems which
are encountered by a business while managing diversity revolves around negative attitude, lesser
employee involvement and language & cultural differences (Barriers to Diversity in the
Workplace, 2018). Therefore it is extremely important to undertake such measures so that better
position on a global level could be achieved. The most preferred approach in such circumstances
are managerial intervention. The various grounds such as cultural, ethical and concerns are paid
special attention so that problems which arise in the organisation could be countered effectively.
Advantages and disadvantages
It can be said that relying on stereotype can be advantageous for an organisation in
numerous aspects. The categorisation on the basis of class, gender and looks have been used in
numerous circumstances which are encountered by a business and successfully countered with
the help of stereotyping. The reliance of a business on stereotyping helps in making rapid
decisions which emerge as advantageous for an organisation. For example: when encountered
with a person of royalty, stereotyping helps in predicting right behaviour so that individual could
be responded with respect. Another major merit which could be achieved through practising
stereotyping is that complex surrounding of business could be simplified. The categorisation of
diverse workforce of business into simplified categories helps in understanding and managing
their expectations which are further supported by motivational tools and rewards leading to
attainment of unprecedented goals (Alfes and et. al., 2013). Such advantages could only be
achieved when stereotyping practices are carried out in the right manner so that there is an right
impact upon employee self-esteem and engagement. The stereotypes help in enabling member

from distinct cultures and ethnicities to fit in the organisation and posses a sense of belonging of
the group.
However there are numerous disadvantages which are also encountered when
stereotyping in an organisation. The first major disadvantage is that stereotyping involves
categorisation of individuals on general grounds which does not carry sufficient information
about the group to form decision in context of an organisation (Bernstein, 2013). The judgements
which are carried out by an individual is mostly incorrect so that providing them with similar
treatment may offend them. Stereotype in an organisation promotes discrimination in the direct
manner which may not be entertained by human resources in an organisation. Irrespective of the
culture and belongingness, distinct members in an institution expect similar treatment from the
concerned party. It has mostly assumed that people belonging to same group carry similar ideals
and personality traits due to possessing of similar culture of dressing sense which is incorrect. It
can be said that there is more to a person than mere appearance and primary interactions
therefore on such grounds practising stereotype can be unjustified. The major demerit is that
stereotyping emerges as a root cause for various conflicts in an organisation which tend to
influence performance of employees in business negatively. In this contemporary era, practising
stereotype can cause complication on ethical and legal grounds for an enterprise.
Personal Reflection
I perceive organisational reliance on stereotyping justified to a decent extent. Every
individual in an organisation carries its own unique personality and experience which helps in
forming its perception. It is a right choice when a business is opting for rapid decisions but it
should create opportunities for management to consider values and beliefs of individual while
undertaking decisions. However the topic is justified to a greater extent which states that it is
comparatively better to possess some information about the workforce rather than not knowing
them at all. Therefore it can be said that a business should undertake simplification approach but
should not promote stereotype within an organisation.
Therefore it can be concluded from the above essay that stereotype is helpful to a
business to counter with new situation and formation of quick decision. But it should not be
incorporated in the manner in which organisation performs its operations. As it can be identified
that stereotyping carries lesser advantages for organisation than its demerits. It has been crucial

for organisation to consider contemporary approaches to employee engagement in an
organisation so that better results are achieved on a global level.

REFERENCES
Books and Journal
Suppiah, V. and Singh Sandhu, M., 2011. Organisational culture's influence on tacit knowledge-
sharing behaviour. Journal of knowledge management. 15(3), pp.462-477.
Dohmen, T. and et. al., 2011. Individual risk attitudes: Measurement, determinants, and
behavioral consequences. Journal of the European Economic Association. 9(3), pp.522-
550.
Burnard, K. and Bhamra, R., 2011. Organisational resilience: development of a conceptual
framework for organisational responses. International Journal of Production Research.
49(18), pp.5581-5599.
Alfes, K. and et. al., 2013. The link between perceived human resource management practices,
engagement and employee behaviour: a moderated mediation model. The international
journal of human resource management. 24(2), pp.330-351.
Bernstein, A., 2013. What's Wrong With Stereotyping. Ariz. L. Rev. 55, p.655.
Online
Barriers to Diversity in the Workplace. 2018. [Online]. Available through:
<https://woman.thenest.com/barriers-diversity-workplace-13721.html>.