Essay About Mcdonaldization Of Society In Today And Fast Food Restaurant

McDonaldization
McDonaldization
Mcdonalds and you
McDonaldization of Society In todays 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 in each container, and the new drink machines
dispense the same amount to each cup. This same theory is seen in our education system.
Students are herded through, and no one really pays much attention to what or how they
are learning, just that they receive high grades so they can get into a good college.
Health care has also seen the impact of these, because now patients are mainly treated
just to squeeze some money out of them, and doctors seemingly dont truly care about
their patients anymore. Calculability basically reduces the quality of goods, but
improves the quantity of them. The third function of McDonaldization is predictability.
In our society, people usually want to know exactly