At a young age, we begin to
understand the rules and phenomena within society that will shape the rest of
their lives. By the time a child enrolls in grade school, 96% will be able to
identify Ronald McDonald only second to Santa Clause (Ritzer, 10). The fact
that only 4% of children cannot identify Ronald McDonald upon entering school
is mind-boggling. How do these children understand the importance of the golden
arches and who the guy with the yellow jumpsuit and big red wig is? Although
geographical and historical contingency may play a role in this 4%, it is safe
to say that the majority of children have been McDonaldized.
Ritzer wrote a book on
McDonaldization and within the first few pages he uncovers what it truly means
to be “McDonaldized.” He discusses the fact that the book will not be about
McDonald’s, rather the concept of McDonaldizing, while referencing real life
examples from the fast food chain of McDonald’s itself. All throughout the world,
people of different social groups have one thing in common: access to McDonald’s.
Not only are they able to access to the fast food chain of McDonald’s, but other
parts of their lives have also been McDonaldized.
The concept of McDonaldization exists of four main principles: efficiency, calculability, predictability and
control through non-human technology. Combining these concepts, McDonald’s and
other McDonaldized parts of society are able to succeed. Although Ritzer’s book
focuses mainly on institutions and parts of one’s life such as religion, this
article made me think about the hierarchy within our social lives and how we are
able to succeed individually. Are there certain rules that make us feel as
though we will be able to succeed, just like McDonald’s?
Beginning with efficiency,
“McDonald’s offers the best available way to go from being hungry to being full
(Ritzer, 15).” Because it is a fast food restaurant, it is expected that food
will be provided quickly and efficiently, taking away the hunger and providing satisfaction
within minutes. McDonalds uses calculability in the form of quantitative
analysis. This aspect looks at things such as how long it takes to receive your
food and how long it takes to drive to the restaurant verses making a home
cooked meal. Ritzer discusses the fact that many people believe “bigger is
better.” They are looking at the amount of time or the size of the product,
because they are more concerned with the number than quality.
Predictability comes from knowing
that a McMuffin in Ann Arbor is going to taste the same as a McMuffin in Grand
Rapids. Customers know what to expect when they order something off of the menu.
By knowing what they are going to receive, a customer becomes dependent on
the predictability that McDonald's offers. Chain restaurants have debated switching from people
working the checkout lines to robots, because they would be more efficient.
Ritzer refers to this as control through non-human technology. Bosses are
looking into robots that will be able to place orders and provide the food much
quicker than humans.
Now
to answer my previous question, are we McDonaldized? Do our lives incorporate
these four principles into our everyday routines? I believe that we are in some
way, shape or form McDonaldized. Our lives are controlled by a combination of
these four things and provide a social hierarchy. We love the efficiency of our
daily lives. We have credit cards that allow us to purchase things we cannot
afford and give us the fulfillment of satisfying our needs and wants,
just like satisfying hunger. As far as calculability goes, we are taught to
believe that bigger is better. There is the competition in schools of
who drives the nicest car and wears the most expensive clothes. People choose
friends for their money, and we take into account the amount of friends we have
more than the quality of the friendships.
When we enter college, we have the
assumption that we are going to find a job because we will have achieved a
college education. Predicting the future is something we thrive on, and this often causes of to live thinking about the future, rather than the present. We predict that upon
graduating college, many will get married and start a family. There is comfort
in knowing this social rule, that we have a process in which we go about
starting our lives after college. The last concept, control through non-human
technology, is a big part of our lives right now. We control numerous things
through our smart phones and the Internet. We are able to pay bills on our
phone and look up directions to almost anywhere. We are reliant on all
different forms of technology to make it through a single day. Most people
check their phone before they are out of bed in the morning and carry it
with them for the remainder of the day.
We may not see where these four concepts thrive in our society, just like we don’t know where the chicken from McDonald’s comes
from. The foundations for these concepts are built behind the scenes and we
don’t always understand how or why they are there; they just are. After stepping back and learning more
about the situation and how our lives are influenced by society, I think it is
safe to say that we experience McDonaldization throughout our daily lives. These four concepts help us to succeed in more ways than one, but they also define who we are and the choices we make. The concepts have allowed McDonald's to have great success, but like with all things in life, this might just be a phase. Within society, rules and norms will continue to change and evolve over time. Some change quickly, and others like McDonald's, define us for many years.
I really am at kind of a loss on how I feel about Ritzer's argument. As Sarah points out, Ritzer believes the four main faucets of McDonaldization to be efficiency, calculability, predictability and control, however, to call striving towards these goals McDonaldization puts the cart before the horse.
ReplyDeleteOur lives are dominated by these four characteristics. The Windows 7 OS is the same across all computers. Because I am familiar with it, the system is efficient, predictable, and controlled. Are computers McDonaldized simply because they are homogenized? When walking to school I take the same path, because it is efficient and I expect very few variables - does this mean my walk to school is McDonaldized? The very language we speak is strictly controlled and engrained by our teachers and parents to be efficient, calculable, predictable and controlled.
Furthermore, these trends have existed throughout history. The slave trade was ran almost mechanistically to minimize costs. To look on the consumer side - homogenized products emerged with the invention of the assembly line in the late 16th century. First with guns, it became famous throughout history with Henry Ford's automobile. Even the suburban homes of the 1950s and 60s were identical from the building layout to the yards in front of them.
I am then lead to believe McDonaldization involves consumerism, as evidenced by his distinction between Weber's theories of rationalization in bureaucracies and the more consumerist society of today. He sites the 96% of children identifying Ronald second only to Santa himself. Yet I do not understand how great marketing interacts with the four principles of McDonaldization. Do powerful companies like Costco, who have very rationalized stores with predictable and efficient layouts fall under the blanket term McDonaldization if they do not advertise.
It is these questions that make me doubt Ritzer. I feel as though society naturally trends towards the predicable and easy, and in a consumer oriented economy the costs of production are easily ignored. Yet to call this McDonaldization ignores the previous millennia of human history because it implies this is a new phenomenon. This trend has existed in all aspects of human society, not just production and consumption.
Throughout my entire life, I have grown up with the notion that I live in an autonomous fashion. Yes, society fashioned and molded my opinions in the form of schooling, but the way I consume, travel, and live couldn’t possibly all be a product of societal shaping, right? As time went on, I was clearly proven wrong and George Ritzers’ “McDonaldization” only reiterates this idea. The fact that this process of consumption stems far beyond only fast food is proof that is all encompassing in our lives. Even people who do not eat fast food are still victims of McDonaldization with the given examples of eyeglass stores, recreational tour guides..etc.. succumbing to this efficient form. As mentioned in the text, “In short, McDonald’s has succeeded because it offers consumers, workers, and managers efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control.
ReplyDeleteAs humans, we are intrinsically drawn to these traits. Disorder, chaos, unexpected results, and a lack of control create anxiety and unsettling hearts. That is why people choose the familiar. Students who are not assigned seats in class typically sit in the same location time and time again even though there is no rule forcing them to do so. Therefore, it can be understandable to see the appeal of McDonaldization: you know what you will receive every single time. When our lives become hectic and in disarray, this one aspect seems something that is under our control. Ritzer’s “Iron Cage of Rationality” elucidates that people are actually trapped in bureaucracies that offers no relief or escape from “McDonaldization”. Once it has infiltrated the workplace, homes, and schools—how can you escape? The fact that children recognize Ronald McDonald even more than Santa Claus demonstrates that children are exposed and thrown McDonaldization practically from birth. The article expounded upon one school in Illinois that used classical conditioning with fast food as a primary positive reinforcement for receiving good grades. This only further engrains into children that McDonald’s and the strategies for marketing and consumption are integral to society.
Whether we are aware of it or not, our society is completely McDonaldized. It affects us daily, for better or for worse: “We must look at McDonaldization as both enabling and constricting”(Ritzer). It is unlikely that it is simply a fleeting phase. McDonaldization started over fifty years ago and although the domestic fast food industry aspect has been stagnating recently, this model has manifested itself into almost all aspects of consumption and will not likely disappear. If new innovative methods are formed, it will simply modify the current system to make for a more efficient, calculating, predictable, and controlling way of McDonaldization.
I agree with Sarah. The franchise of McDonald's and the method by which they run all of their "restaurants" is almost frightening. Homogenized products are what this country thrives on. After the assembly line was created by the auto industry, homogenized products saw an increase in production and sale. It also made a sense of competition for some people in the country. When the color TV came out in 1953, that was what everyone wanted. It is not like the black & white television wouldn't play the same channels as the color, but it goes back to the theory of calculability. Although in this case it doesn't have to do with "bigger is better" as Sarah has mentioned above. My grandmother told me that she didn't have a colored television until her family found out that the neighbors had gotten one. The sense of competition or just the desire to own a color television because the neighbors did was and still is ridiculous. But this is how we are wired. It seems humans have always been wired this way for the most part and I do not see this changing for quite some time. As Drew said in class, "Social structure is durable, and it changes very slowly."
ReplyDeleteJust like Sarah stated even though we are not aware of it we live in a McDonaldization world. The process of McDonaldization has quickly spread not only in the restaurant and food industry but also in our everyday life. In my opinion I think it is rare to think of everyday activities that doesn't follow at least one of Ritzer's McDonaldization four main principles efficiency, calculability, predictability and control through non-human technology. If we think about it every aspect of our life from the time we wake up and start our day until we go back to sleep, we unconsciously are a part of the McDonaldization world. One key aspect to McDonaldization is efficiency, this is "the optimum method for getting from one point to another” (Ritzer) when we wake up most of us now brush our teeth with a battery operated toothbrush instead of the manual one in order to speed up the process. Later we might get breakfast and depending on whether we have time or not might opt to just pop a toaster strudel in the toaster instead of cooking breakfast. We demand thing that are quick and easily accessible. In today's society we have such high dependency on getting things done as quickly as possible that sometimes we tend to forget there are other ways of doing it. One of the biggest way that McDonaldization affect our lives is through the use of technology. Technology has allowed us to access information in a rapid rate. For example if we wanted to know why the chicken crossed the road, all we have to do is pull out our smart phone and google it. This take away the dependability on going to the library and reading a book in order to find those answer. But this ultimately take away from our learning. The internet has made it easy to access information but that just makes it that much harder for us to retain those information.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the author completely. I think especially our generation is going through an extreme 'McDonaldization',but that may not be solely our faults. Society as we know it has shaped the world and the goals of individuals in such a way where McDonaldization places an extremely important role in someones life.
ReplyDeleteWe are sculpted from a very early age into learning how the more money one has the better of they are. Sure, that may not be that values of every single person, but easily the majority. This all comes from the four principles discussed in the article.
I personally do not think it is a good thing that our society is becoming so McDonaldization because it takes away a lack of drive for ones own purpose. instead it solidifies the four notions discussed by the author as the sole driver for the community today.
Without any near change in our society, the world around us is going to continue to go through McDonaldization and the outcome may not be what we want to aim for.
Just expanding on my last comment... the McDonaldization takes away a lot of the uniqueness from everyday life. If people are given a simple, fast formula to make money or secure a job they are going to take it. They do not consider the alternatives, try to work for what they believe in question the way they are given. This takes away a big part of human creativity and encourages people to take the 'shorter of the paths'.
ReplyDeleteThe world as we know it revolves around efficiency and the mentality of getting successful now, but it lacks in the creativity and patience to be not just good, but great.
After reading the articles and Sarah’s post, I realized that societies and people all over the world embody McDonaldization. I also think that our everyday lives depend on the four principles mentioned by Ritzer: efficiency, where many businesses have rules and regulations that workers must abide by in order to make service more efficient; predictability-working at a dining hall as a greeter has led me to realize why I was supposed to remember “scripts” as to how to welcome students. Doing so, allows for a predictable and consistent setting, which allow people to feel more comfortable. For calculability, many people look at “quantity over quality.” For instance, Jimmy John’s delivery ensures “Freaky Fast Delivery!” The less time it takes for their sandwich to arrive must mean that it is good, right? Also, what I found interesting was that not only are fast-food franchises McDonaldized, but also other corporations like LensCrafters, in which they guarantee, “Glasses fast, glasses in one hour” (Ritzer, 16). In today’s modern society, technology has allowed us to gain control. The technology use of computers increases the control over workers in McDonald’s to ensure that the service is consistent and stress-free. We are so reliant on these principles, so McDonaldization only changes ever so slightly. Like Nathan said, with McDonaldization we lack drive for our own purpose, causing our outcomes to not be what we aim for. With this I believe we may seem “trapped” as if we were in an “Iron Cage.”
ReplyDelete