The concept of
McDonaldization is the process of rationalization; taking tasks and breaking it
down into smaller tasks. Based off of the Ford model, McDonalds repeats tasks
until they have been broken down to the smallest level possible to create the highest
level of efficiency (Rogue Valley Group, 2009, para. 1).
George Ritzer explains that there
are four main dimensions to McDonaldization. They are: Efficiency,
Calculability, Predictability, and Control.
Efficiency allows for the best and fastest route possible, such as
breaking up tasks. Predictability allows for the same result, no matter where
you are (place to another place) to be the same every time. Calculability
allows for an emphasis of quantity rather than quality. And Control is taking human
skills and making them non-human; creating a dependency towards electronics and
its use. (“McDonaldization Theory of George Ritzer”, 2007).
With this process McDonalds
has become the dominant popular culture within the world due to globalization
in our postmodern, post socialists, and postindustrial world. McDonaldization
is essentially “a phenomenon of modernization, part and parcel of the mass
society with its frenzied pace and standardized consumption and production” (Douglas,
n.d., para. 3)
There is a reason for
why a new McDonalds opens somewhere in the world every three hours. It
(McDonalds) is more than just food, it is a cultural imperialism. The “Mc” prefix and the ubiquitous Golden
arches are recognized and imitated throughout the world. McDonalds has become a
saturated symbol, laden with contradictory associations and meaning that the
company stands for something greater than the sum or its parts. It is a
cultural message that goes out across the world to capture and also to
undermine other societies. (Watson, 2006, p. 1-2).
Regardless
of where you are, each McDonald’s product is generally the same. One, while
abroad, might even feel like they are “at home” while at McDonalds overseas.
This is primarily due to predictability and calculability (allowing for each
store to thrive and to be able to serve large sums of people). The relationship
customers have with McDonalds, both with the food itself and the environment of
the store, are important to look at. “When travelling, seeking food or shelter
in unfamiliar environments, or utilizing machines and products, one often wants
rationalized and predictable forms of goods and services, while other times one
goes for the more novel and unpredictable experience.” (Douglas, n.d., para. 44)
.Why is it that so many people around the word have the same or similar
sentiments of positivity towards the chain restaurant? Watson says that the
Golden Arches symbolizes different things to different people at different
times in their lives. Predictability, safety, convenience, fun, familiarly,
sanctuary and “connectedness” to the world beyond are just several common
sentiments one might feel while being at a McDonald’s restaurant (Watson, 2006,
p. 38). It is this act of “connectedness” or perceived “sameness” of world
cultures that is an illusion, a mirage that makes a vast panoply of local
response to globalization. (Watson, 2006, p. 197)Because of this act of
connectedness and want of McDonalds to become a part of the local scene, it is
no longer possible to distinguish what is “local” and what is “foreign”. Watson
says that McDonald’s is the one who “carries the baggage of globalization”. “Who
is to say that Mikey Mouse is not Japanese or that Ronald McDonald is not
Chinese?” (Watson, 2006 p. 10).
Due to McDonald’s
success, other companies and businesses have applied Ritzer’s concept of
McDonaldization (Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability, and Control) to
mass produce their items around the globe. This has caused a higher dependency
of electronics from humans due to McDonalization’s corporate Ford-ist methods.
Our society has become modified in order to fit and accommodate towards the
demands, needs, and wants of the Mcdonalized society. We want things that are
reliable, predictable, efficient, and fast. Principals such as exercise,
education, and even church services (which now appear on the television) have
become “Mcdonalized” and easier to use than ever (“McDonaldization Theory of
George Ritzer”, 2007). And because of this demand and boom, other strategies
and tactics have become a thing of the past within the past 50 years, and will
continue on so due to this trend. “McDonaldization
is part of a new global form of technocapitalism in which world markets are
being rationalized and reorganized to maximize capital accumulation” (Douglas,
n.d., para. 9). In order to combat this push towards hegemony with the
phenomenon of McDonaldization one must keep a distinction between local and
global culture(s). It is not bad to have similarities with a group or person,
rather it is important to embrace one’s differences as well.
References
Kellner, Douglas. (n.d.). Illuminations. Theorizing/Resisting McDonaldization: A
Illuminations/kell30.htm
Article, Online Only
McDonaldization
Theory of George Ritzer. (20007). [Youtube video]. Retrieved from
Film,
Videotape, or DVD
Rogue Valley Group. (2009). McDonaldization. Retrieved from
Website
Watson, James. (Ed.). (2006) Golden Arches East: McDonald’s In East Asia.
Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Book,
Edited
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