...to McDonaldization R ay Kroc (1902–1984), the genius behind the franchising of McDonald’s restaurants, was a man with big ideas and grand ambitions. But even Kroc could not have anticipated the astounding impact of his creation. McDonald’s is the basis of one of the most influential developments in contemporary society. Its reverberations extend far beyond its point of origin in the United States and in the fast-food business. It has influenced a wide range of undertakings, indeed the way of life, of a significant portion of the world. And having rebounded from some well-publicized economic difficulties, that impact is likely to expand at an accelerating rate in the early 21st century.1* However, this is not a book about McDonald’s, or even about the fastfood business,2 although both will be discussed frequently throughout these pages. I devote all this attention to McDonald’s (as well as to the industry of which it is a part and that it played such a key role in spawning) because it serves here as the major example of, and the paradigm for, a wide-ranging process I call McDonaldization3—that is, the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world.4 * Notes may be found at the back of the book, beginning on page 233. 1 01-Ritzer5-45349.qxd 8/7/2007 1:07 PM Page 2 2——THE M C DONALDIZATION OF SOCIETY 5 McDonaldization has shown...
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...or she thinks has become McDonalized. The paper should discuss 1) the McDonaldization of the institution and 2) research and discuss efforts that are being undertaken to counter or resist the trend. Students should look for instance, for alternative lifestyles, alternative forms of organization, or social movements that address the issue. They will decide which efforts are most promising or realistic in resisting McDonaldization. Their analysis should emphasize our course core value of Community. What is McDonalization? McDonaldization was originated from the author American sociologist George Ritzer. He uses McDonalization to define the homogenous sociological result that is happening to our culture. He expresses McDonaldization as the development by which the values of the fast-food restaurant such as McDonalds, are approaching to rule new and diverse divisions of American society, and as well as the rest of the world. The hamburgers here in the United States are the same all over the world. McDonaldization can be looked, in a way, in which the hamburger chain makes food for ingestion is taken as an ideal of Max Weber's philosophy of the reasoning of the modern world. McDonaldization is the development of rationalization. Rationalization is a sociological word that means the replacement of reasonably reliable rules for old-style or inconsistent rules. Companies use the four methods of McDonaldization such as efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Efficiency...
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...May 2015 What is McDonaldization Do you like fast food such as hamburgers and french fries? I like cheese burger pretty much, it not just as a banner of fast food and also is a part of the culture. With the developing of the fast food industry, the culture of fast food affects more and more people even causes some social phenomenons. For example, if people think about the symbolic culture of America, I will choose hamburgers. Because, the fast food industry has been rooted in international culture through global economic integration. Thanks to George Ritzer who is an American sociologist, professor, and author who studies globalization, metatheory, patterns of consumption, and modern and postmodern social theory. He creates a new definition, McDonaldization which draws upon Max Weber's idea of rationalization through the lens of the fast food industry. This definition helps people gain a better understanding of how fast food industry affects the whole society. McDonaldization is an academic term that coined by George Ritzer to describe a unique sociological phenomenon in his book The McDonaldization of Society (1993). McDonaldization means a process that makes cooking group or catering enterprise focus on efficiency, calculability, predictability and control shape organization. This improving trend will make fast food services transform mass production. It solves the most important problem that how to realize industrial globalization. In my mind, McDonaldization is a definition...
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...McDonaldization of Society Carlos S Maguino Submitted to: My Instructor Cuyahoga Community College SOC 1010 Introduction to Sociology Instructor: Professor Rachel Stehle May 26, 2013 Review McDonaldization of Society my experience from McDonald’s today in our society and culture are booming phenomenon in our economic and around the world. It stands firmly to fast food chain industry, that remaining at number one rank business for many decades and from what I see McDonald’s business have more decades to come in our future. Most in our society can notice the McDonaldization of society in American and around the world with the impact of a simple hamburger taking not only economic effects, but also affecting our social life in general. These affects are directly related to both the consumer and the producer. Because I see that this changes are beneficial in term of providing efficient service as well as predictable control and quality over goods. In my opining these good qualities also lead to detrimental issues of irreversible values. I see evidences of change’s Mcdonaldization not only in the fast food industry but it how yourself us a consumer see goods thinks. These changes can be shown in different business around our society not only in McDonald organization. One example I see was our system of healthcare has also suffered this changes, making our hospital or medical care an impersonal experience in our society...
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...November 17, 2010 SOCI 202 (LW): Canadian Families: Past, Present, and Future Danita Kagan Research/Analytical Review Paper McDonaldization Research Paper In a world where society is so influenced by technological advancements and materialistic possessions and where most people are often inclined to decide the way the live their lives, purchase items and what values and beliefs they follow based on brands, brand characteristics and brand values. We see many North Americans follow a way of life based on brands they connect with such as those who are Nike lovers; most often turn into what the brand stands for. They have a love for athletics, they always must show high performance in more than just sports and always exert a sense of authenticity in their lifestyle, but most importantly they live their lives in a “just do it” mentality. Yet even further social institutions that affiliate around the Nike lifestyle tend to have this same sense of rationalization. However, Nike is a brand that has had a small influence on those who are the brands consumer, when compared to some larger more influential brands. Yet there is one brand, with high global reach that triumphs all brands. This brand is the largest fast-food chain worldwide and the most influential brand in North Americans particularly; this brand is of course McDonalds. In The McDonaldization Thesis: Is Expansion Inevitable written by George Ritzer, Ritzer reveals that on a global scale the brand personality and characteristics...
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...Sarah Falusi P12196126 Full Time | What are the effects of McDonaldization upon jobs and employees? | Dr David Robotham | | The intention of this essay will be to discuss and analyse the effects of Mcdonaldization on jobs and employees. The term “McDonaldization”, according to George Ritzer (1993), can be said be the process of rationalisation, although taken to extreme levels. Rationalisation is a sociological term that simply means the substitution of logically consistent rules for traditional (or illogical) rules. One of the fundamental aspects of McDonaldization is that almost any task can (and should) be rationalised. The procedure of McDonaldization, most often used in the fast food industry although it can be seen in all aspects of society, takes a process and breaks it down into several smaller ones. This is then repeated until all tasks have been broken down to the smallest possible tasks. These following tasks are then rationalised to find the single more efficient methods for completing each process. All other methods are then considered to be inefficient and are then forgotten as the new method is then adopted. The product is a new efficient, logical arrangement of procedures that can be completed the same way every time to produce the desired outcome with usually a minimal amount of application and time as all unnecessary steps are eliminated. The way in which McDonaldization is different from bureaucracy (a system of government in which most of the...
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...businesses, like McDonalds, owners are learning the methods behind starting and maintaining a successful business. For this paper I will use the discovery paradigm to learn more about how the concept of McDonaldization has affected the global franchise of 7-eleven Inc. History The idea for a convenient that was there to provide customers with what they needed when they needed it first came light in 1927, and was ran by a man named Jefferson Green. He kept his business afloat by selling milk, bread, and eggs but the catch was that he would make sure his doors were open on Sunday’s when the local grocery stores were closed. According to www.7-eleven.com , this is when one of the founders Joe C. Thompson, Jr., began selling the product line at other ice-dock locations and using the same concept, providing the cliental with that they need, when they need it. At the time, the company had eight ice plants and 21 retail ice docks. He understood the importance of keeping the doors open to the public even when everything else was closed, and because of this idea the first set of convenient retailers were born. The company went on to build 60 Southland-owned ice docks within the decade. As the customer appeal grew Southland ice docks began to sell other items that were based round what the customer needed and in 1928 top seller was gasoline (www.7-eleven.com). People would come from miles around to shop at one of these stores, and after the depression the sales of liquor and beer increased...
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...Fast Food Nation: The McDonaldization of Society The term McDonaldization was introduced by George Ritzer. According to Ritzer (1996), the term described a sociological phenomenon that he noticed in society. When the concept of the McDonaldization was first introduced, it was viewed as a process of rationalization. Rationalization is viewed as a means of substituting consistent rules for traditional rules. The aspects of McDonaldization centers on the belief that any task presented can be rationalized. These concepts of Max Weber’s views on the structural change that occurs when humans interact and develop identities. This is compared to the principles of the fast food industry that dominates society. According to Larner and Spoonley (1995), the views of Weber’s analysis of society supports that notion that people will support traditional ways of thinking as an ends and means of viewing the world. When the fast food restaurant was first introduced, it was not seen as a traditional means of providing meals for families, but it has become a force that represents the process of rationalization when providing food for all families. Fast food restaurants have become huge in all American families. The fast food industry has grown faster than any other industry, to include the bookstores, childcare facilities, and toy stores. This process as viewed as the chain mentality. The chain mentality is when a concept or establishment becomes a force that comes to us. For example, fast food...
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...According to the McDonaldization model to be successful it is suggested that many people have come to prefer few or no surprises. Each employee at Jiffy Lube (McDonaldization systems) also behaves in a predictable/same way. The employees follow corporate rules/regulations as well as their managers. Not only what they do, what they say and how they do the job is highly predictable. Jiffy Lube (McDonaldization organizations) often have a standard script/program that each employees is supposed to memorize and follow whenever the situations arise." This scripted/programmed behavior helps create highly predictable interactions between the workers and the customers” according to the McDonaldization model. Customers tend to develop simple interactions with dealing with the employees of McDonaldization systems such as Jiffy Lube. The fourth portion of the McDonaldization system at Jiffy Lube is the control. That is through the substitution of nonhuman for human technology is exerted over the people/employees. The employees are trained to do a limited number of things in the same way each time they are told to do...
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...go today, we are faced with McDonaldization. So, to some extent, all of us are caged on a daily basis by the over-rationalization of society. The velvet cage is a reflection in my life because I literally grew up on McDonald’s assembly-line Happy Meals. As a result of becoming comfortable with McDonaldization, I have grown to depend on fast, predictable products and services in all areas of my life. For instance, I take my clothes to a 24-hour dry cleaners. I use JiffyLube to quickly change the oil in my car. Almost every day, I access an ATM machine instead of standing in line at the bank. And, I pay for and pump my own gas without ever seeing an attendant. Although, having said that, there are alternatives to some of these examples of McDonaldization. Therefore, I do not feel defenseless against this process because there is comfort in knowing that (for example) fast food restaurants are a steadfast viable choice for a quick meal when you do not have a lot of time to shop for healthier, better quality foods. Let’s face it. Realistically, we live in a contemporary society today that is on the move. We want what we want, at the exact time that we want it. And, for that convenience, there will be times when I am willing to compromise quality for quantity. On the other hand, Ritzer’s ideas on the iron cage are also a reflection in my life. Whenever I do have the time, which isn’t often, I will “fight back” against McDonaldization by shopping for fresh groceries...
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...“Hospitality means satisfy a guest’s need for shelter and lodging and those which provide their patrons with food and beverages.” (Chon and Sparrowe, 1995, p. 3) It is a relationship between a guest and a host. Hospitality always refers to the hospitality industry likes hotels, restaurants, resorts, clubs and any other else. The hospitality industry has become one of the biggest industries in the world. A hospitality service is an intangible factor in the hospitality industry. It is what the host given to the guest for their needs. It is the important part in hospitality industry. “Standardization refers to the situation where uniformity is achieved either in outputs (products or services) and / or in the processes that produce such outputs.” (Taylor, 2000, p. 51) It is using the same ingredients, recipes, prices, and etc. In the setting of customer service, standardization is the processes making the organizations to focus their attention in provide a great customer service. It is satisfying the customer expectations and needs. The motivation for standardization comes from a number of sources. “These include the aspiration for reducing costs and improving reliability of systems. By promising that reliable and interoperable standard exists, it is possible to dodge being locked into specific vendor’s products and ensure healthy race to improve quality, reduce costs, and guarantee reliability of supply.” (Ratha and Govindaraju, 2008, p. 473) I am agree with the statement that standardization...
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...(fast-food / formal dining), used an ATM in a bank, spent your vacation at an amusement park or simply browsed through a mall, you have been exposed to McDonaldization. McDonaldization is, “the process by which the principles of the fast food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more parts of America’s society as well as the rest of the world” (Ritzer). Nearly all aspects of today's society have become more standardized because of McDonaldization including health care, the restaurant business, and higher education. Despite its name, McDonaldization refers to a phenomena that reach back past McDonald’s method of fast food all the way to Henry Ford’s assembly line. This introduction of a form of production focused on efficiency is a process that would change the relationship between producers and consumers forever. In other words, the Ford’s assembly line opened the door for consumers to create more effective and logical means of production to gain more with minimum cost. An ideal McDonalized model will be efficient, calculable, predictable, and controlled (Ritzer). Efficiency is reached by determining the best, most rational way to do something. Once this method is selected, many workers will not have any other choice in how this task is performed. Each part of the assembly line is very structured. Calculability in McDonaldization refers to the striving of businesses to achieve the greatest sales. This quantitative perception of success takes away from the subjective side of...
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...The McDonaldization of China A Curriculum Project 2009 Fulbright‐Hays Seminars Abroad to China Lynn Guenette Sociology Instructor Rochester Community and Technical College Rochester MN © 2008 NCUSCR • 71 West 23rd Street, Suite 1901 • New York, NY 10010-4102 • (212) 645-9677 • www.ncuscr.org Introduction The author had the privilege of traveling to China on a Fulbright‐Hays study tour during the summer of 2009. While sociologists have been studying the effects of McDonaldization in U.S. society since 1993, few have studied how Chinese society has been influenced by this phenomenon. James Watson and his team studied the phenomenon in 1997 and their book, “Golden Arches East: McDonald’s in East Asia” is an excellent resource for anyone studying this topic, especially the first two chapters. During a lecture at Chongqing University, Professor Zhang Jin mentioned that the idea of Scientific Management was being explored in China during the early 20th century by such business leaders as Lu Zuofu with his experiment at Beibei. This “model society” was implementing the same values in the early 20th century that McDonald’s later touted in the U.S. fifty years later. The author suspected that they had a common ancestor in Taylorism, a business model developed in the U.S. around 1900. Further research found that indeed, they shared that common ideology. Could this be the reason that the Chinese have adapted so ...
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...In the two articles Social Change Among the Amish, and The McDonaldization of Society we can clearly understand the difference between a Gemeinschaft and a Gesellschaft. The term Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft is used by Ferdinand Tonnies to analyze the two major terms in society. A Gemeinschaft is otherwise known as a “intimate community.” It is used to describe the traditional type of society in which everyone knows everyone else. While a Gesellschaft is what is more common, Gemeinschaft’s do exist. A Gesellschaft is otherwise known as a “impersonal association.” It is what we typically live in, it is emerging society with short-term relationships, individual accomplishments, and self-interests that crowd out personal ties, family connections, and life-long friendships. In the article Social Change Among the Amish out of a group of selected Amish families 130 questionnaires and/or personal interviews were obtained for the information in this article. The Gemeinschaft community is clearly understood in this article about the Amish. The Amish are a Gemeinschaft community living in a Gesellschaft society. The Amish people are polite and cordial but they are not to intrigued by outsiders intruding on their land. The Amish lifestyle and religion promotes voluntary isolation and has been a major obstacle for anyone wanting to collect data or research on the Amish community. The lifestyle of the Amish emphasizes “the importance of humility, modesty, strong obedience...
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...To evaluate this statement we first need to define what the mechanistic and learning approach is. Then define exactly what organisational learning is and what impact the characteristics of the mechanistic approach will have on it. The two approaches involve theories and models about the adaptability and the learning skills of organizations. Bureaucracies clearly lack these characteristics in comparison to other approaches. The mechanistic approach operates the organisation in the same way a machine operates - efficient, specialised, reliable, predictable, logical and with no opinions (has no heart). The model which refers to this approach would be the Taylor model (Taylorism - 21st century scientific management). Frederick Winslow Taylor was a mechanical engineer who strived to improve industrial efficiency. He was a pioneer in the field of scientific management. The Taylor model consists of 4 components. 'Division of labour' where responsibility is shifted from worker to manager. 'One best way' where the scientific methods determine the most efficient way to operate. 'Scientific selection and training' which means the best person is selected depending on experience and qualifications. They are trained to work as efficiently as possible. Finally, 'monitor performance' where operations and performance is observed and monitored through an organisational hierarchy and through supervision. This basic concept further developed into Fordism and finally into TQM. The...
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