It tells about how McDonaldization happens

1. TheMcDonaldizationof
Society

2. By George Ritzer

3. George Ritzer’s (1940–)
McDonaldization
thesis relies on
Weber’s account of the
rationalization of
modernity

4. One consequence of rationalization is
bureaucracy. Ritzer anaalyzed the further
consequences of bureaucracy which
occurred all around the world through the
phenomenon of McDonalization.

5. Why McD?

6. Ritzer sees the McDonald’s fast-food
restaurant as an exemplar of a wider
process of rationalization/bureaucracy.
This is seen in several respects.

7. First, it is a company that relies on the mass selling of
exactly the same products on a global scale.

8. McDonald’s is the world’s leading global
foodservice retailer with over 38,000
locations in over 100 countries

9. Each retaurant is
therefore obliged to
follow a centralized
rule-book which sets
out the precise recipe
for all food sold, as well
as the script for
customer handling that
should be followed by
every employee.

10. To help ensure
consistency
McDonald’s has its own
Hamburger University
which all managers
must attend, and they
are taught by lecturers
who themselves follow
a carefully constructed
script

11. This is intended to remove the risky
proposition of employees communicating
with customers in unpredictable or
spontaneous ways.

12. Thus, every conceivable aspect of the business
has been systematized to make burger
production a methodical operation whether it is
carried out in New York, London, Moscow or
Kuala Lumpur.

13. Ritzer shows how the rationalist principles of
efficiency, calculability, predictability and
control were established by the brothers
who founded the company in California in
1937.

14. Efficiency entails a
managerial focus on
minimizing the time
required to complete
individual tasks as well
as that required to
complete the whole
operation or process
of production and
distribution.

15. Calculability is a focus
on quantifiable
objectives (counting
things) rather than
subjective ones
(evaluation of quality).

16. Predictability and
standardization are
found in repetitive and
routinized production or
service delivery processes
and in the consistent
output of products or
experiences that are
identical or close to it
(predictability of the
consumer experience).

17. Control within
McDonaldization is wielded
by the management to
ensure that workers
appear and act the same
on a moment-to-moment
and daily basis. It also
refers to the use of robots
and technology to reduce
or replace human
employees wherever
possible.

18. For Ritzer, "McDonaldization" is when a society adopts the
characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.

19. The process of McDonaldization can be
summarized as the way in which "the principles
of the fast-food restaurant are coming to
dominate more and more sectors of recent idea
about the worldwide homogenization of cultures
due to globalization".

20. For example, in your
average chain grocery
store, people at the
register check out
customers while
stockers keep the
shelves full of goods and
deli workers slice meats
and cheese to order
(efficiency).

21. Whenever you enter a
store within that
grocery chain, you
receive the same type
of goods, see the same
store organization, and
find the same brands
at the same prices
(predictability)

22. You will find that goods are
sold by the pound, so that
you can weigh your fruit
and vegetable purchase
rather than simply
guessing at the price for
that bag of onions, while
the employees use a
timecard to calculate their
hours and receive
overtime pay (calculability)

23. Finally, you will notice that all
store employees are wearing
a uniform (and usually a
name tag) so that they can be
easily identified. There are
security cameras to monitor
the store, and some parts of
the store, such as the
stockroom, are generally
considered off-limits to
customers (control).

24. Advantages

25. McDonaldization has resulted in improved profits
and an increased availability of various goods and
services to more people worldwide

26. Efficiency gains can be passed on to consumers in
terms of cheaper prices

27. Disadvantage

28. Thus, the outcome is the domination of the market by
bland and homogeneous goods and services.

29. It has reduced the variety of goods available in
the marketplace while rendering available
products uniform, generic, and bland.

30. Think of the difference between a mass-produced
shoe and one made by a local cobbler, between a
chicken from a family-owned farm and a corporate
grower, or between a cup of coffee from the local
diner and one from Starbucks.