What is stereotyping?
What’s it got to do with our business decision?
>From Oxford's Dictionary of Business 1996...
Stereotyping n.
"Making assumptions about individuals or groups based on
information (which may or may not be valid) obtained before
the individual or group has been encountered. Once
encountered, opinions formed may be based on dress, speech,
gender, ethnic origin, nationality, and gestures.
Unfortunately, human beings are liable to have selective
prejudices towards their fellows, seeing only what they want
to see and ignoring factors that do not fit in with their
preconceived beliefs. They also tend to assume that all the
individuals of a group have the same, or similar,
characteristics..."
If you have in mind the stereotypes of the group your
prospect is from, you at least have the guidelines of how
to attract him/her with your business proposal, how your
sales letter should look like and what to mention in there.
You also get the idea which groups of customers prefer you
to drink with them, and which of them hate drinking
partners. You know if you should communicate formally or
casually, addressing the person with the first or last name.
And you know if you should keep the relationships strictly
businesslike or if you could become friend with your
customer without losing the business.
However, some stereotypes are wrong and most of them are not
accurate. I saw numbers of stereotypes being made from only
one sample of a group. I actually made some of them myself.
Once I went to Korea and the taxi driver pushed me out of
his cab because he did not understand what I was saying, and
I kept telling people Koreans were rude. Of course there was
no way for me to know if the taxi driver was even a Korean,
if he’d just had a bad day, or if he did not really mean to
push me away (just waving).
I can bet, whoever you are, there must be at least one
stereotype about you that you refuse its accuracy. A Russian
friend of mine would be very angry every time anybody asked
him about communism in Russia. My Muslim friends have had
enough with the Muslim-terrorist-Bin Laden jokes. And as a
Thai female, prostitution issue irritates me the most.
Even with the right stereotypes, leave rooms for exceptions.
Your Japanese partner might have grown up in a Western
country and prefer hand shaking to bowing. Thai food is
tasty, but it does not mean all Thais are good cooks.
There are times Germans have fun, as well as there are
times Brazilians get serious. I know a Mr. Singh who
teaches Theology in a Catholic school, and I am married
to a Filipino who cannot sing!
Stereotyping is just for your estimation and planning.
If you use it wrongly, if you judge people by stereotypes,
you may find yourself having already offended many important
people in your life.
About the Author
Nucha Aquino is a Work-At-Home-Mom with a wide International
background. She currently teaches International Business and
Management in a Graduate School in Laguna, Philippines.
When the baby is asleep and there is no class, she writes
about her International experiences and publishes 2 ezines:
Small-World Ezine at http://small-world.netfirms.com , and
eLaguna's eBiz Tips at http://eLaguna.net/newsletter.htm.