McDonaldization is a term developed by sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society (1993). For Ritzer, "McDonaldization" becomes manifested when a society adopts the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.
McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of rationalization and scientific management. Where Max Weber used the model of the bureaucracy to represent the direction of this changing society, Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as a more representative contemporary paradigm (Ritzer, 2004:553). 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 American society as well as of the rest of the world."
The McDonaldization thesis in its cultural version is a comparatively recent idea about the worldwide homogenization of cultures due to globalization.
Aspects
Ritzer highlighted four primary components of McDonaldization:
Efficiency – the optimal method for accomplishing a task. In this context, Ritzer has a very specific meaning of "efficiency". In the example of McDonald's customers, it is the fastest way to get from being hungry to being full. Efficiency in McDonaldization means that every aspect of the organization is geared toward the minimization of time.
Calculability – objective should be quantifiable (e.g. sales) rather than subjective (e.g. taste). McDonaldization developed the notion that quantity equals quality, and that a large amount of product delivered to the customer in a short amount of time is the same as a high quality product. This allows people to quantify how much they're getting versus how much they're paying. Organizations want consumers to believe that they are getting a large amount of product for not a lot of money. Workers in these organizations are judged by how fast they are instead of the quality of work they do.
Predictability – standardized and uniform services. "Predictability" means that no matter where a person goes, they will receive the same service and receive the same product every time when interacting with the McDonaldized organization. This also applies to the workers in those organizations. Their tasks are highly repetitive, highly routine, and predictable.
Control – standardized and uniform employees, replacement of human by non-human technologies
With these four principles of the fast food industry, a strategy which is rational within a narrow scope can lead to outcomes that are harmful or irrational. As these processes spread to other parts of society, modern society’s new social and cultural characteristics are created. For example, as McDonald’s enters a country and consumer patterns are unified, cultural hybridization occurs.
Irrationality of Rationality
Ritzer also outlines Irrationality of Rationality as a fifth aspect of McDonaldization. "Most specifically, irrationality means that rational systems are unreasonable systems. By that I mean that they deny the basic humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within or are served by them." (Ritzer 1994:154)
Ritzer introduces this during Chapter Two (The Past, Present, and Future of McDonaldization: From the Iron Cage to the Fast-Food Factory and Beyond) of his book "The McDonaldization of Society" in the sub-section Irrationality and the "Iron Cage." He states that "Despite the advantages it offers, bureaucracy suffers from the irrationality of rationality. Like a fast-food restaurant, a bureaucracy can be a dehumanizing place in which to work and by which to be served." In short; "settings in which people cannot always behave as human beings".
A further problem with the irrationality of rationality is that this can lead to inconsistencies; fast food is no longer fast, there are long lines and it is at the expense of taste.
He further states that beyond dehumanization further irrationalities emerge; including the inefficient masses of red tape, over quantification leading to low quality work, unpredictability as employees grow unclear about what they are supposed to do, or the loss of control due to other things.
De-McDonaldization
Organizations have been making an effort to deny the rationalization of McDonaldization. Efforts are related to focusing on quality instead of quantity, enjoying the unpredictability of service and product and employing more skilled workers without any outside control. Protests have also been rising in nation-states in order to slow down the process of McDonaldization and to protect their localization and traditional value.
Also some local case studies show how the rational model of McDonald's adjust to local cultural preferences and the result is a diminution of the original McDonald's product. In fact, the more the company adjusts to local conditions the more appeal the scientific calculations of the specifically American product may be lost. At the end of the day, McDonald's is a contributing factor to globalization.
Examples
Junk food news, defined here as inoffensive and trivial news served up in palatable portions, is an example of McDonaldization. Another example could be McUniversities, which features modularized curricula, delivering degrees in a fast-track pick-and-mix fashion to satisfy all tastes. The diminished quality of these products can only be disguised by extensive advertising which constantly repackages them to look new.
In penology, there has been a shift from punishments and treatment tailored to individual offenders, to attempting to control classes of offenders who are considered to be at high risk of recidivism through standardized penalties, such as those specified by three-strikes laws or sentencing guidelines. Offenders are classified by security level and sent to facilities deemed capable of adequately incapacitating prisoners in their risk category. Technology such as electronic surveillance, electronic monitoring, urinalysis, and computer-based offender tracking systems are often used in place of humans in the penal system.
Response of McDonald's
The response from McDonald's, expressed by its representatives in the United Kingdom, is that Ritzer, like other commentators, uses the company's size and brand recognition to promote ideas that do not necessarily relate to the company's business practices.
Education
It has been argued by a westerner that an example of the phenomenon of McDonaldization can be seen in education, where there is seen to be increasing similarity between that of Western classrooms and the rest of the world. Slaterargues that the class size, layout and pedagogy in Peru closely resemble that of America, with clear examples of Western culture focused on efficiency of transfer of knowledge in other parts of the world. Furthermore, Slater goes on to demonstrate that the McDonaldization of education could have many negative side effects; particularly that it does not promote inquiry or creativity. Therefore, schools will become less effective at educating children as they will fail to develop creative thinkers.
According to Wong, the influence of McDonaldization has also affected Higher Education classrooms.
Efficiency - Computer graded exams limit the amount of time necessary for instructors to grade their students.
Calculability - Letter Grades and Grade Point Averages are used and calculated to measure a student’s success over the course of their academic career.
Predictability - Course availability and requirements have become more standardized amongst universities. Making it easier to find similar courses and content at different locations.
Control - Courses are structured very specifically and must meet certain requirements and follow certain guidelines. Courses begin and end at the same time on the same predetermined days and last for a specific number of weeks.
A study by Carroll on "E-learning – the McDonaldization of education" describes how e-learning has become one of the biggest phenomena of educational literature in recent years. Although the potential promise of e-learning is often expected within the process of learning, much of the emphasis is in fact on the electronic issues to facilitate learning, with little regard for its consequences on the learning process. Consequently, this often erodes the human factor in learning – making the learning process a more isolated experience. This article suggests that academics should become more cautions with their acceptance of facilitating learning through e-learning platforms without fully understanding the impact on students learning experiences. It also explores the changing role of students in discovering, questioning, and seeking knowledge to that of ‘consumers of pre-packed education.
The McDonaldization of Education is not only limited to physical classroom settings. It is predicted by George Ritzer that MOOCs (Massive Open Online Courses) will make future education even more McDonaldized. While it is possible to create a new original MOOC every semester, it is more likely a basic structure will be created and subsequently altered each time in order to make their creation more efficient. Over time as the interest and quality of MOOCs increases, the same pre recorded MOOCs may be used by many different universities, creating predictable content for MOOC students. Computer graded exams will be used more frequently than written essay exams to make it more efficient for the instructors. Yet since MOOCs limit the amount of contact between student and teacher, it will be difficult to engage the course on a deeper and more meaningful level.
Americanization
Cocacolonization
Cultural globalization
Disneyfication
Fast Food Nation, 2001 book
Food, Inc.
Fordism
Globalization
Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention
Jihad vs. McWorld
McWords
McWorld
Super Size Me, 2004 documentary film
Walmarting
