mcdonaldization globalization essay

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2 Assessing Mcdonaldization, Americanization and Globalization

• Published: March 2004
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This chapter relates the concepts of Americanization and globalization to McDonaldization. The term McDonaldization describes the increasing rationalization of society using the fast-food restaurant as a paradigm. The chapter shows how the idea of globalization can provide new insights into the diffusion of McDonaldization. It also models the relationships among McDonaldization, Americanization and globalization, showing how they fit together and complement one another.

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Fast and Pluribus: Impacts of a Globalizing McDonald’s

The expansion of McDonald’s in the twentieth century brought the fast food chain to more than 100 countries. But how well did it integrate into its new home(s)?

The connection between globalization and McDonald’s is a tale of scholarly metonymy. There’s no textual shortage of evidence that references the now-global fast food chain’s success in other countries , often linking it to themes of self-sufficiency, post-industrial stability, and democracy-formed capitalism.

Among these chunks of research is a more endogenous angle that examines the impact McDonald’s has had within offshore cultures; namely, how the American fast food model has been diffused across different countries. Such case studies, which look at individual cultural phenomena and their direct applications to globalization activity, refines not only the framework of McDonald’s in theories, but overall globalization processes and strategies as well.

Japan’s stylish renditions of fast food practices, for one, existed long before McDonald’s came to the country. Given the existing popularity of convenient and on-the-go meals—including conveyor belt sushi and street vendor meals—American fast food chains were bound to succeed. Scholars John W. Traphagan and L. Keith Brown investigate this supposition by employing an ethnographic model of research, building the argument that Japan not only assimilated—but basically swallowed whole—the McDonald’s dining model , to the point that younger people especially believe McDonald’s is a Japanese company.

Traphagan and Brown emphasize that, rather than “styles of preparation or ingredients,” fast food is defined by “a style of selling food.” Essentially, McDonald’s brought no real paradigm shifts to Japan—but rather constructed a space in which already-formed Japanese cultural practices could continue.

Their case study contrasts with that of geographers Ray Oldakowski and John McEwen, who similarly investigate McDonald’s and its cultural assimilation—but in Ecuador. Their evidence shows that the integration of American fast food dining followed a different path , and McDonald’s remains an obviously foreign establishment in the cityscape. McDonald’s didn’t attempt to adapt to Japanese or Ecuadorian culture (for McDonald’s, “the strategy has been one of consistency, i.e. McDonald’s prefers not to change its way of doing business to adapt to foreign cultures, rather, it changes local cultures to meet its own needs,” they note), but Ecuadorians clearly viewed the fast food chain as a deviation from local tastes, unlike Japanese consumers.

“[A] comparison of exterior designs revealed that the McDonald’s in Guayaquil [Ecuador] were very similar to the typical McDonald’s restaurants in the United States,” write the authors. Moreover, the menus were also similar. Only 2 percent of those polled considered the food served at McDonald’s similar to Ecuadorian food. In contrast, very few interviewees considered Kentucky Fried Chicken—another American fast food establishment—different from Ecuadorian food. Eighty-four percent reported that KFC was the most similar to Ecuadorian food, and 68 percent said it was actually where they dined regularly.

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“Those results suggest that McDonald’s might gain new customers, and more visits from existing customers, if they also offered menu items more typical of Ecuadorian food,” conclude the authors.

In neither Japan nor Ecuador did McDonald’s actively work to adapt itself to the tastes of the host countries, but the depth of integration into local dining customs differed between the two nations. Such observations could prompt additional nation-specific analyses and possibly reveal additional adaptations to the “strategy of consistency” associated with McDonald’s. However, the study of the globalization of fast food from a micro-cultural angle requires challenging assumptive attitudes around American businesses and classical theories, with one of the most popular—and infamously controvertible—examples being the Golden Arches Theory of Conflict Prevention , built on tropes of democratic peace through development. Globalization and its effects could also be examined in light of McDonald’s cultural impacts on its origin country of America, opening a conversation on socio-economics and class .

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George Ritzer: Globalization, McDonaldization, Americanisation

George Ritzer and the three ‘izations’: Globalization, McDonaldization, and Americanisation

George Ritzer (born June 1, 1937) is an American sociologist and Professor of Sociology at the University of Maryland. His work has been influential in the development of sociological thinking, while his contributions contribute to diverse fields such as sociology, anthropology, and political science.

He is most known for developing the four quadrants model (marketing quadrants), which distinguishes four social roles or social domains that are typically occupied by people within organizations: producer (enterprise or business people), customer (consumers or customers), client or clientele (people who work inside organizations) and employee (from the bottom up).

This model has been used extensively in modern marketing research to explain consumers’ behaviour and motivations towards decisions about buying products.

George Ritzer began his career by writing stories, poetry, and plays while attending Williams College. While in graduate school at Columbia University he taught a course on the sociology of knowledge. Ritzer published his first book, Toward a Description of the Methodological Self-Reflexive Sociology in 1970. Two years later he co-edited edited Utopian Dimension: Studies on Ideology and Culture with Howard J. Ehrlich (1975). Later books included The McDonaldization of Society: An Investigation into the Changing Role of Business in Society (2000), The Zero-Sum Society: Conflict Between Western and Eastern Societies (2001), His most recent book is Consciousness and Power: Essays on Sociology (2009).

Ritzer: Contributions

As a proud social theorist, Ritzer was fascinated by consumption and the sociology of Consumption. Ritzer often referred to presumption, a term first coined by Alvin Toffler. He uses the term to distinguish the false dichotomy that exists between consumption and production. Technological advancements and historical inventions that came about after the Industrial Revolution have blurred the lines between consumption and production, giving way to prosumption, in which people both consume and produce at the same time. He uses prosumption to define new technological concepts as simple as selfies to cryptocurrency and blockchain networks.  Ritzer also conceptualized metatheory in sociology.

Ritzer defines Metathery as an achievement of a deeper understanding of concepts or theories, the creation of a new theory, and the creation of an over-arching theoretical perspective. This type of metatheory can be thought of as a study of how the field has progressed and how it can continue forward. Through the application of this subset, Ritzer suggests that sociology has a stronger foundation and can experience rapid and dramatic growth through a better understanding of the theoretical theories applied within sociology today.

He mentions three types of metatheorizing : Mu, Mp, and Mo.

Mu is a subset of metatheory that focuses on the attainment of a deeper understanding of theory. This category includes four subsets: internal-intellectual, internal-social, external-intellectual, and external-social. These four subsets identify the current schools of thought within sociology as well as identify the structure and scope of current sociological theories.

The second category of metatheory (Mp), aims at creating a new theory. Within the greater category of Mp, Ritzer identifies three subsets: empirical-practical, empirical-deontological, and empirical multiplex. The empirical-practical sector uses its findings to develop theories that can be used to improve society’s problems.

The third category of metatheory (Mo), refers to the creation of an overarching theoretical perspective through which all others are understood.

Globalization

The concept of globalization is a phenomenon of global networks, which provide the foundation for the transmission of goods and services, ideas, information, and people. The foundation of globalization is commonality, which includes the development of similar values in societies around the world. Globalization can also be defined as a term used to describe the increasing integration of economies and cultures around the world, as well as the emergence of a world market, where products, services, and ideas are traded across borders.

George Ritzer defines the concept of Globalization as the process by which people, objects, and information flow across the planet as well as any form of structures they encounter that may act as barriers or catalysts to the said flow. He emphasizes how globalization allows a free flow of information that supersedes barriers between countries or nations. Ritzer also states that Globalization is not just an economic process but one that impacts and influences social, cultural, and technological structures as well.

He uses terms like Global consciousness, the interdependence of societies and cultures, and worldwide integration of societies and cultures to describe globalization. He states that makes up the features of globalization. His research based on globalization and its structures, lead him to construct his theories on Americanisation.

Americanisation

Americanization, according to George Ritzer, is the process by which immigrants become more like Americans and adopt American values. This leads to the creation of an individualistic culture. The term Americanization refers to broad changes that have taken place in both countries over time as well as geographical distribution regarding lifestyle and work conditions.

He is among the first scholars to draw attention to this area, whose significance became especially evident during the post-World War II period when it became apparent that Americanization was advancing rapidly with respect to lifestyle, attitudes regarding work, family values, and attitudes toward education, technology, and sexuality. It focuses on key concepts and features of American Society like individuality, consumerism, and rationalism.

Some other features of American society that are promoted are the superiority of American culture and values,individualistic-lead cultures,  consumerist behavior, ideals of Americanised-profit making along with American norms, values, and traditions.

For example, there are more people around the world aware of holidays like Christmas, Valentine’s Day, or Thanksgiving than holidays celebrated in third-world nations.

McDonaldization

McDonaldization is a concept by George Ritzer that defines the ubiquitous system of production, consumption, and marketing that has taken hold in most aspects of modern-day life. He introduced the concept of McDonaldization with his 1993 book, The McDonaldization of Society. The concept has become central within the f ield of sociology and especially within the sub-field of the sociology of globalization.

He bases his theory of McDonaldization on Max Weber’s theory of social rationality and how it produced bureaucracy, where society is organized in hierarchical roles. Ritzer states that while this bureaucratic system of social organization is still prevalent in society, the McDonalidizational organization has formed a new social order.

The concept of McDonaldization by George Ritzer is the continued development of managerial and work practices which have developed from, and subordinate workers to the demands of a company. It goes beyond fast food chains and had been adopted by society, its institutions, and its organizations to increase efficiency, calculability, predictability, standardization, and control of its factors. These four characteristics form the four main aspects of McDonaldisation affecting not only production and work but also consumer experience.

The concept of McDonaldization is the idea that a society can become increasingly lacking in “the human touch”. When this happens, people and businesses are more willing to turn to “quick-fix solutions”, or “inefficient habits of behavior” as Ritzer describes them.

George Ritzer, as an 81-year-old is still an active sociologist. He industriously analyses neo-digital spheres like cryptocurrency, NFT’s and blockchain technology as a social theorist to further explain his concepts like prosumption. His theories of globalization, McDonaldization, and Americanisation are still widely used in sociology and extremely important when understanding and analyzing new global advancements, reforms, and technologies.

Ashwathy Kumar

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6.4C: The “McDonaldization” of Society

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Sociologist George Ritzer theorizes “McDonaldization” as a contemporary form of rationalization.

Learning Objectives

• Explain how George Ritzer’s categorizes efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control with reference to the McDonalds model
• In Ritzer’s reconceptualization, McDonaldization is the process of rationalization that Weber found inherent in bureaucracies extended to fast-food chains such as McDonalds under globalization.
• According to Ritzer, McDonaldization is comprised of four main components: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.
• The first one, efficiency, is geared toward the minimization of time as the optimal method for accomplishing a task. The second, calculability, refers to the quantifiable objectives of fast-food chains, seeing quantity as quality.
• With the rise of predictability, the third component, all consumers can predict receiving the same service and the same product every time they interact with the McDonaldized organization. Under control, the fourth component, employees become standardized and replaced by non-human technologies.
• Under cultural hybridization, as McDonald’s enters a country, consumer patterns are unified and local cultures are westernized.
• As a response, the process of de-Mcdonaldization offers alternatives to this model of production and organization.
• Max Weber : (1864–1920) A German sociologist, philosopher, and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself.

“McDonaldization” is a term used by sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society (1993). McDonaldization as described by Ritzer is a reconceptualization of rationalization, or moving from traditional to rational modes of thought, and scientific management. In sociology, rationalization refers to the replacement of traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society with rational, calculated ones. Where Max Weber used the model of the bureaucracy to represent the direction of this changing society, Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as having become a more representative contemporary paradigm in contemporary societies. In Ritzer’s book, McDonald’s serves as the case model of this process in the 1990s.

The McDonaldization Theory of George Ritzer : “McDonaldization” is a term used by sociologist George Ritzer in his book The McDonaldization of Society (1993). He explains it occurs when a culture possesses the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant. McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of rationalization, or moving from traditional to rational modes of thought, 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 having become a more representative contemporary paradigm.

Components of McDonaldization

According to Ritzer, McDonaldization is comprised of four main components: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. The first one, efficiency, is the optimal method for accomplishing a task. Efficiency in McDonaldization means that every aspect of the organization is geared toward the minimization of time. From a customer perspective, efficiency is achieving the fastest way to get from being hungry to being full.

The second component, calculability, refers to the quantifiable objectives of fast-food chains. 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. Workers in these organizations are judged by how fast they accomplish tasks instead of the quality of work they do. This relates to the idea of availability versus variety – you can get a lot of one thing, but not necessarily the thing you want. Increase in volume does not equate to increase in choice.

Third, predictability is the idea that no matter where a person goes, they will receive the same service and receive the same product every time they interact with the McDonaldized organization. This also applies to the workers in those organizations. Their tasks are highly repetitive, highly routine, and predictable.

Fourth, under control, employees become standardized and replaced by non-human technologies. Lastly, as part of standardization, cultural hybridization occurs. Ritzer argues that as McDonald’s enters a country, consumer patterns are unified, and starting with the food chains, local cultures are westernized.

Ritzer also outlines irrationality of rationality as a fifth aspect of McDonaldization. As Ritzer said, “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. ” 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, and the loss of control due to other inadequacies.

Junk-journalism, 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. When we look at schools and classrooms across the world, there is an ever increasing similarity between that of Western classrooms and the rest of the world. This can be considered an example of how Western culture, focused on efficiency of transfer of knowledge, has spread around the rest of the world.

De-McDonaldization

As a response, the process of de-Mcdonaldization offers alternatives to this model of production and organization. Many corporations have been making an effort to deny the kind of rationalization similar to what Ritzer calls McDonaldization. Protests have also been arising in nation-states to protect localized economies and traditional values.

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McDonaldization: Definition and Overview of the Concept

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McDonaldization is a concept developed by American sociologist George Ritzer which refers to the particular kind of rationalization of production, work, and consumption that rose to prominence in the late twentieth century. The basic idea is that these elements have been adapted based on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant—efficiency, calculability, predictability and standardization, and control—and that this adaptation has ripple effects throughout all aspects of society.

The McDonaldization of Society

George Ritzer introduced the concept of McDonaldization with his 1993 book,  The McDonaldization of Society.  Since that time the concept has become central within the field of sociology and especially within the sociology of globalization .

According to Ritzer, the McDonaldization of society is a phenomenon that occurs when society, its institutions, and its organizations are adapted to have the same characteristics that are found in fast-food chains. These include efficiency, calculability, predictability and standardization, and control.

Ritzer's theory of McDonaldization is an update on classical sociologist Max Weber's theory of how scientific rationality produced bureaucracy , which became the central organizing force of modern societies through much of the twentieth century. According to Weber, the modern bureaucracy was defined by hierarchical roles, compartmentalized knowledge and roles, a perceived merit-based system of employment and advancement, and the legal-rationality authority of the rule of law. These characteristics could be observed (and still can be) throughout many aspects of societies around the world.

According to Ritzer, changes within science, economy, and culture have shifted societies away from Weber's bureaucracy to a new social structure and order that he calls McDonaldization. As he explains in his book of the same name, this new economic and social order is defined by four key aspects.

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

Ritzer asserts that these characteristics are not only observable in production, work, and in the consumer experience , but that their defining presence in these areas extends as ripple effects through all aspects of social life. McDonaldization affects our values, preferences, goals, and worldviews, our identities, and our social relationships. Further, sociologists recognize that McDonaldization is a global phenomenon, driven by Western corporations, the economic power and cultural dominance of the West, and as such it leads to a global homogenization of economic and social life.

The Downside of McDonaldization

After laying out how McDonaldization works in the book, Ritzer explains that this narrow focus on rationality actually produces irrationality. He observed, "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." Many have no doubt encountered what Ritzer describes here when the human capacity for reason seems to be not at all present in transactions or experiences that are marred by rigid adherence to the rules and policies of an organization. Those that work under these conditions often experience them as dehumanizing as well.

This is because McDonaldization does not require a skilled workforce. Focusing on the four key characteristics that produce McDonaldization has eliminated the need for skilled workers. Workers in these conditions engage in repetitive, routinized, highly focused and compartmentalized tasks that are quickly and cheaply taught, and thus easy to replace. This kind of work devalues labor and takes away workers' bargaining power. Sociologists observe that this kind of work has reduced workers' rights and wages in the US and around the world, which is exactly why workers at places like McDonald's and Walmart are leading the fight for a living wage in the U.S. Meanwhile in China, workers who produced iPhones and iPads face similar conditions and struggles.

The characteristics of McDonaldization have crept into the consumer experience too, with free consumer labor folded into the production process. Ever bus your own table at a restaurant or café? Dutifully follow the instructions to assemble Ikea furniture? Pick your own apples, pumpkins, or blueberries? Check yourself out at the grocery store? Then you have been socialized to complete the production or distribution process for free, thus aiding a company in achieving efficiency and control.

Sociologists observe the characteristics of McDonaldization in other areas of life, like education and media too, with a clear shift from quality to quantifiable measures over time, standardization and efficiency playing significant roles in both, and control too.

Look around, and you will be surprised to find that you will notice the impacts of McDonaldization throughout your life.

• Ritzer, George. "The McDonaldization of Society: 20th Anniversary Edition." Los Angeles: Sage, 2013.
• The Sociology of Consumption
• 15 Major Sociological Studies and Publications
• Introduction to Sociology
• How Do Sociologists Define Consumption?
• Definition of the Sociological Imagination and Overview of the Book
• What Is Social Order in Sociology?
• All About Marxist Sociology
• The Sociology of the Internet and Digital Sociology
• Max Weber's Three Biggest Contributions to Sociology
• Overview of Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft in Sociology
• Famous Sociologists
• Understanding Functionalist Theory
• Understanding Alienation and Social Alienation
• Sociology of Work and Industry
• Understanding the Sociological Perspective
• Definition of a Formal Organization

McDonaldization of Society: Definition and Examples

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Research Assistant at Harvard University

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On This Page:

Key Takeaways

• McDonaldization is a term used to describe the penetration of American cultural and economic products throughout the world. It is used symbolically and is drawn from the market and ideological success of Mcdonald’s fast-food franchises all over the world.
• McDonaldization is a process through which certain principles of fast food management, such as efficiency, come to dominate the ethos of various sectors of society. It was developed by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1995 book The McDonaldization of Society .
• McDonaldization is an updated version of Max Weber”s rationalization, which argues that the traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society are being replaced with rational and calculated ones.
• The four characteristics of McDonaldized systems are efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. In essence, McDonaldized systems are built to provide consistent services to many customers in a way that is often quick and low-cost.
• Critics have argued that McDonaldization spurs on effects contrary to its principles, in some cases decreasing efficiency, introducing costs that cannot be seen until far after the fact, and reducing the rights and wages of workers.

History and Overview

McDonaldization is the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant — efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control — come to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world (Ritzer, 2018).

McDonaldization, as described by Ritzer (2013), is a reconceptualization of rationalization and scientific management.

Rationalization refers to the replacement of traditions, values, and emotions as motivators for behavior in society with rational and calculated ones.

Whereas the sociologist Max Weber (2015) used the model of bureaucracy to represent the direction of his changing society, Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as being more representative of how contemporary societies are changing.

What are the Four Principles of McDonaldization?

McDonaldization, according to George Ritzer (2018) has four key principles: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control through non-human technology.

These lie at the heart of the success of McDonald”s, and, more generally, of all McDonaldized systems.

Ritzer argues that McDonald”s and other McDonaldized systems have succeeded because they offer consumers, workers, and managers the advantages of these.

Efficiency involves finding and using the optimum method for getting from one point to another.

McDonald”s drive-through, for example, provides one of the fastest possible ways to get from being hungry to being full. The fast-food model also offers other methods for satisfying needs.

A business fashioned on the McDonald”s model may offer, or claim to offer, efficiency in, say, exercising, losing weight, lubricating cars, getting new glasses, completing taxes, making online purchases, or ride-hailing.

The workers in a McDonaldized system function by following steps in a predesigned and generally well-choreographed process (Ritzer, 2018).

Calculability

Calculability emphasizes the quantitative aspects of the products sold — such as their portion size or price — and services offered (how quickly someone can get the product).

In McDonaldized systems, quantity is equivalent to quantity — services that provide a lot of something, or are inexpensive or very fast are automatically better.

For example, the McDonald’s “Dollar Menu” quantifies both a low cost and the feeling that people are getting a lot of food for a small sum of money (Ritzer, 2018).

Consumers can also make calculations in terms of time. They may calculate, consciously or not, how much time it would take to go to a McDonald”s, be served food, eat it, and return home in comparison to the time required to prepare food at home.

Ritzer argues that this is important to other food delivery chains — say, pizza restaurants — as well as brands that emphasize obtaining any good or service quickly, such as fast fashion.

Workers within McDonaldized systems emphasize the quantitative, rather than the qualitative aspects of their work. Because the quality of work must be uniform, workers focus on how quickly tasks can be accomplished.

Ritzer (2018) argued that digital services such as Facebook and Amazon are heavily McDonalized, and that the calculability aspect of McDonaldization has been enhanced by “big data.”

Predictability

McDonaldization is also built on predictability, meaning that the products and services will be more or less the same over time and in all locations.

McDonald” ‘s hamburgers should be virtually identical today in New York as they will be next week in London. Consumers, according to Ritzer, take comfort in knowing that McDonald’s offers no surprises.

The workers in McDonaldized systems also behave in predictable ways, by following corporate roles and the demands of the systems in which they work. What workers do and even say is highly predictable (Ritzer, 2018).

The fourth element of McDonaldization, control, is exerted over the people who enter a McDonald’s. The lines, limited options, and uncomfortable seats of a McDonald’s encourage its customers to eat quickly and leave.

Workers in McDonaldized organizations are also controlled, often in a more blatant way. These employees are trained to do a limited number of tasks in exactly the way they are told to do them.

This control is reinforced by both the technologies used by the company and the way the organization is set up (Ritzer, 2018).

Advantages of McDonaldization

McDonaldization has numerous advantages, both for consumers and businesses. According to Ritzer (2018), these include:

A wider range of goods and services available to a larger proportion of the population

Availability of goods and services depends less on time or geographic location.

People can acquire what they want or need near-instantaneously

Goods and services of more uniform quality

Widely-available and economical alternatives to high-priced, customized goods and services

Services for a population that has less time due to longer working hours

The comfort of stable, familiar, and safe products

Consumers can more easily compare competing products due to quantification

Some products, such as exercise and diet programs, become safer in a carefully regulated and controlled system

People are more likely to be treated similarly despite their race, sex, social class, and so on

Organizational and technological innovations can be diffused quickly and easily through networks of identical businesses

The most popular products and services of one society can be more easily disseminated to others.

Downsides of McDonaldization

Although McDonaldized systems can enable people to do many things they were not able to do in the past, these systems also keep them from doing things they otherwise could do.

Ritzer notes that McDonaldization brings with it a number of seemingly contradictory inconsistencies, such as:

Inefficiency (rather than efficiency);

High cost (despite the promise the McDonalized goods and services are inexpensive);

falseness in the way employees relate to consumers;

disenchantment;

health and environmental dangers;

homogenization;

dehumanization.

Ritzer argues that, Although there have been many benefits that have resulted from McDonaldization such as variety, round-the-clock banking and shopping, and often speedier service, these rationally built services can lead to irrational outcomes.

By this, Ritzer means that they “deny the basic humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within or are served by them” (Ritzer, 1996).

For instance, the lines at a fast-food restaurant can be very long, and waiting to get through the drive-through can take longer than going inside. This rational system does not save people money: while people may spend less, they may do more work in the form of waiting for food.

Additionally, the food that people eat at restaurants is often less nourishing and contains high levels of flavor enhancers, fats, salt, and sugar. This contributes to the downstream health problems of society, such as heart disease, diabetes, and obesity, ultimately costing more than was saved by the convenience of this fast food.

As children grow up within these systems, they can develop habits that ensure their increasing dependency upon the systems.

The packaging used in the fast food industry pollutes the environment. And the ritual of fast food may take the place of that of the communal meal, reducing quality social time (Ritzer, 1996).

Examples of McDonaldization

Worker’s rights and wages.

One notable criticism of McDonaldization is that it has, in many ways, replaced skilled work with workers who must engage in repetitive, routinized, highly focused, and compartmentalized tasks.

This, sociologists have observed, has reduced workers’ rights and wages throughout the world, as workers have become easier to replace and in higher supply due to the lack of skill required to do McDonalized jobs (Ritzer, 2013).

McDonaldization occurs when any institution follows its four principles: control, predictability, calculability, and efficiency. Amazon has a large database of items that they work with and sell. This includes groceries, electronics, and digital content.

With Amazon, consumers can order virtually any item online and these products will be delivered quickly and inspected carefully. This embodies the principle of efficiency.

Amazon also exhibits calculability — an emphasis on the quantitative aspects of products served and services offered. Amazon”s price listings provide the perception that one can seek out the best deal.

Amazon has also trained its employees to behave predictably. Customer service agents follow scripts when dealing with inquiries, and Amazon moderates what sellers can sell on their website. As a result, customers can make purchases, in theory, without worrying about whether or not sellers are trustworthy.

Finally, Amazon exerts control on both its consumers and employees. The company — albeit not without ethical criticism — emphasizes timing their workers when packaging goods to ensure that these are delivered within a specific amount of time.

Robots also automate the picking of some products from warehouses. In all, this allows the company to provide a reliable and uniform experience to customers throughout the world (Ritzer & Miles, 2019).

Essay Question

In a culture built on the diverse contributions of various immigrant groups over time and the development of innovative technology, what will be the long-term effect of increased McDonaldization?

Hartley, David. “ The ‘McDonaldization’of higher education: food for thought ?” Oxford Review of Education 21.4 (1995): 409-423.

Ritzer, George. “ An introduction to McDonaldization .” McDonaldization: The Reader 2 (2002): 4-25.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of society: Into the digital age. Sage Publications, 2018.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of society. Sage, 2013.

Ritzer, George. “The McDonaldization thesis: Is expansion inevitable?.” International Sociology 11.3 (1996): 291-308.

Ritzer, George, and Steven Miles. “The changing nature of consumption and the intensification of McDonaldization in the digital age.” Journal of Consumer Culture 19.1 (2019): 3-20.

Weber, Max. “Bureaucracy.” Working in America. Routledge, 2015. 29-34.

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Globalization Theory: Lessons from the Exportation of McDonaldization and the New Means of Consumption

Explorations in the Sociology of Consumption: Fast Food, Credit Cards and Casinos

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McDonald’s Globalization Process and Its Brief History Paper

Introduction.

• History of McDonald’s

Globalization Process of McDonald’s in History

Works cited.

McDonald’s is a well known fast food retail chain that has its main operations in the United States of America. The fast food retail corporation has 31,000 fast food restaurants in 119 countries around the world with many of these fast food outlets serving around 58 million customers in one day. The total number of people working for McDonald’s is over 1.5 million employees in the various chains around the world.

Apart from the company’s fast food restaurants, McDonald’s operates other restaurant brands which include the Piles Café, Chipotle Mexican Grill and Donatos Pizza. The most common McDonald meals being the hamburger (Big Mac), cheese burger, French fries, chicken nuggets, egg McMuffins, soft drinks and milk shakes. These meals are offered in the various McDonalds restaurants that include drive-through restaurants, counter service, Auto-Mac or Pay and Drive (McDonald’s par. 1-2).

McDonalds Globalization in History

McDonald’s was started in 1940 by Richard and Maurice McDonald in the Bernardino area of California and the main idea behind opening the restaurant was to provide cheap burgers through the use of fast service. The two brothers introduced the speedy service system in 1948 within their restaurant and that marked the beginning of the modern day fast food restaurants around the world.

The company filed for its first US trademark in 1961 with the description of their restaurant to be one that offered drive-in restaurant services. The company also filed a logo trademark on September 3 rd of 1961 that would be used to identify the McDonald’s franchise. The company had previously used a logo of a man with a chef’s hat on top of a hamburger when they decided changed their logo to that of Ronald McDonald.

The company took on the logo trademark of the overlapping, double arched M symbol in 1961 when they filed for a logo trademark. “The overlapping double arched M symbol was however changed in 1962 to a single arch M symbol. This single arched M has become the symbol that is used today to identify McDonald’s restaurants around the world” (Mieth 3-4).

The first franchise owner of McDonald’s was Ray Kroc who was appointed by Richard and Maurice McDonald in 1954 to run the San Bernardino restaurant in California. Ray Kroc eventually opened his own restaurant in 1955 within the Des Plaines area of Illinois near Chicago which marked the beginning of the McDonald’s Corporation.

Kroc developed the company’s motto in 1957 which states that McDonald’s was restaurant that offered quality, service, cleanliness and value (Q.S.C. &V.). In 1961, Ray Kroc bought all the rights to the McDonald’s franchise from Richard and Maurice McDonald at a price of $2.7 million dollars (Spotlight par. 1-5).

The year 1963 marked the opening of 500 McDonald restaurants in America with these restaurants selling a total of one billion hamburgers. 500 students from the Hamburger University in Chicago also graduated in 1963 marking the success of the McDonald’s corporate brands. The same year saw McDonald’s earning a net income that exceeded $ 1 million dollars as a result of the increasing food sales in its 500 restaurants. Ronald McDonald joined the company in 1963 as a partner of the corporation with Ray Kroc.

The following year saw the introduction of the fillet on fish sandwich which was added to the restaurants growing meals that included the French fries and cheese burgers. The corporation’s stock went public in 1965 with the earning ratios varying from 10 to 22 in one year and the stock prices ranging form 15-33.5 in one year (Spotlight par. 6-8).

After the corporation’s stock went public, the following year saw McDonald’s being listed in the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on 7 th May 1966. This marked the beginning of the company’s expansion plans as the corporation was experiencing an increased growth in its customers as well as in its sales.

The first fast food restaurants to be established outside the United States were opened in Canada and Puerto Rico during 1967. The following year, 1968, saw the introduction of the Big Mac hamburger that would become the signature fast food meal of all McDonald restaurants around the world as well as the opening of the 1,000 th McDonald’s restaurant in the Des Plaines area of Illinois.

The continued expansion activities of the corporation saw McDonald’s fast food restaurants in every state within the United States by the year 1970. During the same year, McDonald’s opened two new fast food chains in the Virgin Islands and Costa Rica (Spotlight par. 9-12).

In 1971, McDonald’s conducted test marketing for the introduction of Egg McMuffin’s into the breakfast menu of the fast food restaurants. The tests showed that the market was ready for breakfast items in fast food restaurants and the Egg McMuffin was introduced to McDonald’s growing meal menu. The corporation also opened various McDonald’s food outlet in various countries which included Japan, Australia, Germany, Holland, Guam and Panama.

The assets for the company exceeded $500 million dollars and the sales had surpassed $ 1 billion by the end of 1972. The 2000 th McDonald’s restaurant was opened in the Des Plaines area of Illinois while the company added France and El Salvador in its growing international market. This demonstrated that the company was experiencing an upward growth in its operations and its fast food outlets around the world.

Other countries that were introduced to the corporations growing fast food outlets between 1973 and 1980 included Sweden, Belgium, Ireland, Austria, England, the Netherlands, Guatemala, Brazil, Singapore, Switzerland, New Zealand, Spain and Denmark. The founder of McDonald’s corporation Ray Kroc died in 1984 and the management of the company was taken over by Ronald McDonald (Spotlight par 13-16).

McDonald’s is one of the many corporations around the world that actively seeks global markets around the world through the utilisation of technology. McDonald’s has become a globalized and multinational corporation as a result of the various technological advances it has experienced over the years and also because of the growing number of countries in which it operates in.

The continued introduction of McDonald’s fast foods within the American society has led to the introduction of McDonaldization as a term that describes the proliferation of McDonald’s products in America. The growth of technology within the company has seen its growth and expansion objectives being realised throughout its various food outlets around the world (Duiker and Spielvogel 937).

The globalization process of the company has been commonly referred to as mcdonaldization where the company has made its mark on various societies around the world. According to Ritzer (14) the globalization process of McDonald’s can be described through the use of four key aspects which include efficiency, predictability, calculability and control through the use of technology and automated machinery.

These four aspects do not only affect the consumers and employees of McDonald’s corporation but they also affect the cultural societies in various parts of the world that fall under McDonald’s operations. The first aspect of the company’s globalization effort which is efficiency has allowed the company to achieve results through the optimum utilization of its systems and technology to produce results within the shortest period of time.

This has made its fast food service delivery to be the first of its kind in the world. McDonald’s ensures that efficiency is entrenched in its employees by ensuring that the customers are served within the shortest time possible. The drive-thru lanes that the company uses for its services have been adopted by its world wide outlets to increase the efficiency of their operations (Ritzer 14).

The aspect of calculability has been used by the corporation in its globalization process to place emphasis on the aspect of quantity over quality. The globalized system of McDonald’s has seen quantity becoming equivalent to quality with regards to the type of food being offered in its various world wide outlets. This dimension allows the company’s customers to calculate the amount of time it will take to go to a McDonald’s chain and order for a meal when compared to going to a grocery store (Ritzer 14).

The third aspect of the company’s globalization process deals with predictability where the company offers products that are similar in taste, quantity, appearance and quality to those that are found in other world wide chains. Predictability which goes hand in hand with standardization has ensured that McDonald’s has continued to be successful in the fast food industry.

The uniformity in the company’s products has ensured that McDonald’s continues to offer a standard menu in all of its global markets around the world ensuring that the customer’s demand for the same product has been met at the various locations of the company’s establishments. The fourth aspect of the company’s globalization process deals with control where the McDonald’s customer is given the opportunity to perform some of the service functions for themselves.

McDonald’s has been one of the pioneers of self service within the fast food restaurant where customers order for their own food, take it to the table and clear out the table once they are finished. Control allows the customers to do most of the tasks themselves without having to involve waiters or busboys (Ritzer 16).

McDonald’s continues to experience an upward growth in its expansion and sales activities with the company. The globalization or McDonaldization of the company’s activities have helped the company to achieve an increased growth in its operations which has seen it become successful in the fast food service industry.

The globalization of the company’s operations around the world has helped the company to produce a wider range of fast food products and services that are available to a larger population in various geographic locations around the world. People who are customers of McDonalds are able to get what they want within a short period of time as a result of the company embracing the process that comes with globalization.

Duiker, William and Spielvogel, Jackson. World history, volumes 1-2, 6 th Edition. Boston, Massachusetts: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2010. Print.

McDonald’s. Our company: getting to know us . Web.

Mieth, Hieke. The history of McDonald’s . Norderstedt, Germany: Grin Verlag, 2009. Print.

Ritzer, George. The McDonaldization of society 6 . California: Sage Publications, 2010. Print.

Spotlight. A brief history of McDonald’s . Web.

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Home — Essay Samples — Literature — McDonaldization of Society — Mcdonaldization And Its Effect On Society

Mcdonaldization and Its Effect on Society

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Words: 1144 |

Published: Oct 25, 2021

Words: 1144 | Pages: 3 | 6 min read

Works Cited

• Griffiths, H., Keirns, N. J., Strayer, E., Cody-Rydzewski, S., Scaramuzzo, G., Sadler, T., … Jones, F. (2017). Introduction to sociology 2e.

Should follow an “upside down” triangle format, meaning, the writer should start off broad and introduce the text and author or topic being discussed, and then get more specific to the thesis statement.

Provides a foundational overview, outlining the historical context and introducing key information that will be further explored in the essay, setting the stage for the argument to follow.

Cornerstone of the essay, presenting the central argument that will be elaborated upon and supported with evidence and analysis throughout the rest of the paper.

The topic sentence serves as the main point or focus of a paragraph in an essay, summarizing the key idea that will be discussed in that paragraph.

The body of each paragraph builds an argument in support of the topic sentence, citing information from sources as evidence.

After each piece of evidence is provided, the author should explain HOW and WHY the evidence supports the claim.

Should follow a right side up triangle format, meaning, specifics should be mentioned first such as restating the thesis, and then get more broad about the topic at hand. Lastly, leave the reader with something to think about and ponder once they are done reading.

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