Ethnocentrism is defined as a belief or idea that delineates a particular way of life in terms of language, race, group, or culture where an individual considers they are superior to others. In such an instance, there is a bias in the person’s capacity to objectively make judgments and compare their culture to others. Stereotyping involves one’s perception of the world and entails determining various stimuli based on a character’s environment. The situation also prompts an individual to categorize and interpret these impetuses (Hoffman & Verdooren, 2019). These categorizations are rigid and based on opinion rather than fact and typically involve others’ group affiliations. Individuals stereotype people as it enables them to form their impressions (Kotze & Massyn, 2019). They use broad assumptions rather than complex human personalities (Hoffman & Verdooren, 2019). Stereotyping involves the formation of flawed impressions. These notions should be alleviated in favor of global acceptance as the world continues to become a close-knit community.
Ethnocentrism is applicable in a business and can harm it if the workers do not discern its clients’ or customers’ views. This stance has many overarching implications and could be applied to varying nations’ products and services (Hoffman & Verdooren, 2019). In some instances, a consumer group may promote local businesses and lead to the failure of multinationals in their locale because of ethnocentric traits. These individuals are likely to perceive domestic businesses as superior to foreign entities (Hoffman & Verdooren, 2019). Ethnocentrism and stereotyping are dangerous for many companies if they are associated with inferior quality goods. For example, Swiss-made products are stereotypically linked to high value, while traditionally, Chinese products are deemed to have low worth.
Ethnocentrism and stereotyping also occur in terms of language, preventing effective communication between individuals in a business entity. Some employees would not consider learning another culture as they deem it inferior to theirs and not worthy of their time (Mack-Shelton & Shally-Jensen, 2017). People from the United States may be misconstrued as arrogant because of their vocal nature. In contrast, Islam-majority countries’ women are less outspoken due to cultural practices and may be inaccurately considered timid. These preconceptions are detrimental for business as people within a company may perceive each other erroneously despite working together (Skulski, 2020; Kotze & Massyn, 2019). Each of these individuals would hold a form of contempt for others that do not share their cultural norms and refrain from correcting them despite their harmful nature to the business.
Organizations can deal with ethnocentric problems by developing a mechanism to connect individuals from varying cultures. Some people have a domineering nature and should refrain from imposing their ideologies on others with a less aggressive character. Many misconceptions about others’ culture, race, language and religion as inferior should be replaced by tolerance and acceptance of the differences exhibited around the globe (Tripathy, 2019). Organizations should conduct vocational training exercises to sensitize their workforce to varying cultures. While an establishment will focus on its cultural norms as the standard, it should provide others with an equal chance for advancement and avoid imposing the leaders’ ethnic characteristics on the employees (Tripathy, 2019). The organization should also maintain an accepting demeanor to enhance collaboration and prevent compromise, as everyone’s culture should be considered equal. In conclusion, ethnocentrism and stereotyping adversely affect businesses and should be rooted out to facilitate workplace teamwork.
References
Hoffman, E. M., & Verdooren, A. (2019). Diversity competence: Cultures don’t meet; people do. CAB International.
Kotze, M., & Massyn, L. (2019). The influence of employees’ cross-cultural psychological capital on workplace psychological well-being. SA Journal of Industrial Psychology, 45(19), 1–8. Web.
Mack-Shelton,, K., & Shally-Jensen, M. (2017). Racial & Ethnic Relations in America (2nd ed.). Salem Press.
Skulski, P. (2020). Cultural aspects of international business. Publishing House of Wroclaw University of Economics and Business.
Tripathy, M. (2019). Subduing cultural stereotype & ethnocentrism in business organizations: A soft skills stance. Jurnal Sosial Humaniora, 12(1), 28-38. Web.