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The McDonaldization of Society by George Ritzer Reviewer Hamid Yeganeh Winona State University 003
The McDonaldization of Society by George Ritzer Reviewer Hamid Yeganeh Winona State University 003
Publisher: Pine Forge Press, 5th edition (August 31, 2007) Paperback: 320 pages, ISBN-13: 978-1412954303
Reviewer: Hamid Yeganeh, Assistant Professor, College of Business, Winona State University, Minnesota, USA
www.winona.edu
Published: Tuesday 19 April, 2011-04-19
Introduction
In his book entitled The McDonaldization of Society, George Ritzer nicely encompasses concepts from sociology, management, and economics to provide a
profound understanding of our modern
society. According to George Ritzer, 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 of the rest of the world. Toys RUs, WalMart, Gap, Jiffy Lube, and Home Depot are
all examples of companies that want to
become the McDonalds of their industry.
The success of McDonalds is also evident
worldwide as over half of the companys
revenue comes from overseas operations
serving 50 million customers a day. Indeed, this fast-food restaurant has become
more than just a company. It has become a
part of our culture.
McDonaldizations Process
Ritzer argues that the success of McDonaldization can be explained through four
dimensions. The first dimension is efficiency. For consumers the restaurant offers
an efficient way to go from hungry to full.
Workers at McDonalds also operate efficiently by following predesigned steps of
a process. The second dimension is calculability which focuses on the quantitative
aspects of McDonalds products. Examples
include portion size, cost, and the amount
of time it takes for the customer to get the
product. This is important because people
in the U.S. now view quantity as being as
important as quality. People also calculate
how much time it will take for them to get
to a McDonalds rather than eat at home.
Predictability is the third dimension. When
a person goes to McDonalds he or she can
be sure that the product is going to be the
same every time they go. The fourth dimension of McDonaldization is control.
This is exerted over the customers with
the use of lines, limited menus, and uncomfortable seats. These methods of control cause people to eat quickly and leave.
While McDonalds has become an inevitable part of our society, there are still some
sectors that are not affected. One aspect
of un-McDonaldized society can be traced
to the earlier pre-modern age, such as the
mom and pop grocery store. Although
their operations have not been affected
by McDonaldization, they are becoming
rare due to the competition of Wal-Mart.
Trough his analysis, Ritzer refers to bureaucracy theory as proposed by the German
sociologist Max Weber. Weber maintained
that the modern West is marked by rationality and consequently is dominated by
efficiency, predictability, calculability, and
non-human technologies that control
people. In the same vein, Ritzer considers
the McDonaldization process as an amplification of this theory. Formal rationalization means that peoples search for the optimum means to an end is shaped by rules,
regulations, and larger social structures.
The bureaucracy ultimately leads to fewer options because virtually everyone can
make the same optimal choice. Although
the bureaucracy does not offer many options it still has advantages within the four
dimensions of rationalization. First, the bureaucracy is viewed as the most efficient
structure for handling tasks with large
amounts of paper work. Second, bureaucracy values the quantification of as many
things as possible. The third advantage is
that because of rules and regulations, bureaucracy operates in a highly predictable
manner. Finally, bureaucracy emphasizes
control over people through the replacement of human judgment
with rules, regulations,
Tailor-made promotion
and structures.
The Forces that Drive
McDonaldization
Advertise with Anglohigher According to Ritzer, there
are three important factors which contribute
to the increasing prevaFor information please email:
lence of McDonaldization.
[email protected]
These factors are: material
interests, the culture of
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As a result, the process of McDonaldization is spread on a global scale. On the other hand, the glocalization of nothing can
be demonstrated through the transformation of tourist areas. It can be seen that as
there is higher demand for something, it
leads to it being transformed into nothing.
An example is a souvenir shop that now
sells items that reflect the local culture
but may be made in another part of the
world. Finally, the glocalization of something can be described as something not
mass produced, only made or sold locally,
and which often has a meaning to a certain
location. After looking at all of these combinations, the author makes the case for
why McDonaldization can be considered
an example of either the globalization of
nothing and the glocalization of something. As the globalization of nothing,
McDonalds and other fast food restaurants are seen as giant multinationals that
come into other countries to bring standardized foods and processes that mean
nothing to the local people. McDonaldization also has the power to cause local restaurants to transform to become more like
McDonalds and spread the processes of
McDonaldization to the rest of the world.
Because the local communities are able to
change the ways that things are done, they
can see the McDonaldization processes as
their own. McDonalds tries to adapt itself
in many ways to become as much as part
of the local culture as possible, and can
thus be seen as the glocalization of something. Although the basic processes and
menu may still remain, McDonalds tries to
customize its menus based on local tastes,
preferences, and customs.
Dealing with McDonaldization
The author brings up many ways for people to help themselves and society to deal
with the increasing McDonaldization in
our society. He states that people generally fall into one of three cages that summarize their view. In the velvet cage are
people who are not threatened by McDonaldization, but instead enjoy and are comforted by the rationalization and the predictability it brings to society. The rubber
cage is for people who dislike some aspects of McDonaldization, but at the same
time like other aspects of it. They are usually the one who recognize the cost of becoming too McDonaldized and try to find
ways to temporarily escape the process.
The third type is the iron cage, and these
people are more pessimistic and try to
fight back against the McDonaldization
process. Indeed, more and more people
fall into the velvet cage group because
they are increasingly dependent on fast,
Anglohigher - Book Reviews - 003 - Copyright 2011 by Panethnic Limited, All Rights Reserved.
quick, convenient, and predictable products and services. These people may fall
in the second category for luxury or hobbies, but overall they like to know what will
happen before they do anything. Also one
may dislike the McDonaldization process
for different reasons such as, working conditions or to defend the interests of small
and local restaurants/businesses.
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