Mcdonaldization of society
Mcdonaldization of societyMcDonaldization of Society
In today's' complicated and ever changing society, we often try to achieve a sense
of stability and familiarity around us. One way our culture has tried to make life a little
easier is by implementing a function now know as "McDonaldization". McDonaldization
is defined as "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 the rest of the world." (1)
The success of McDonalds, and of McDonaldization as a whole, is due to four basic
factors--efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.
One of the first functions of McDonaldization is efficiency. Efficiency means
choosing the optimum means to an given end. In our society, people like to have things
go as quickly and as smoothly as possible, but they do not want to find out the fastest way
themselves. Instead, people like to have a system that has already been used and that they
know works. Efficiency has its advantages for both consumers, who get what they want
quickly and with little effort, and for workers, who can perform their tasks in a simple
manner. The fast food industry is very streamlined, because hamburgers are the simplest
food there is to make. Other foods also do not need a lot of ingredients, and they are
simple to make and to eat. Most of the food is also prepared so one can eat it with their
hands, thereby reducing the need for utensils. In the process of McDonaldization,
consumers are forced to do a good deal of work as well. They have to stand on line,
carry their own food, and throw out the garbage. This is not as efficient for the
consumer, but it saves time for the workers. Education, health care, and the work place
are all becoming McDonaldalized in order to become more efficient. Efficiency in
McDonaldization has streamlined many processes, simplified goods and services, and
forces the consumer to do work as well.
Another factor of McDonaldization is calculability. This tends to put more of an
emphasis on quantity rather than quality, but it allows the consumer to get a lot of food
quickly. When things are easily counted, it facilitates the process by making it more
predictable by using the same amount of materials. Part of McDonalds is an emphasis on
size. Everything is "super sized," or have names that make food items seem larger than
they actually are. Calculability, however, also leads to the quality of the food being
neglected. Because people feel as if they are getting a lot of food for their money, they
are not as worried about how good it tastes. Food is always weighed and measured
precisely, which is another part of calculability. All burgers weigh the same amount, there
are the same number of fries...
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