Modern American society is difficult to explain fully. There are many aspects that must be considered in order to form a cohesive definition of modern society and how each part comes together such as bureaucracies and individual thinking. McDonaldization within bureaucracies allows us to explain how it has changed over the years and gain an understanding as to why society is the way it is now. According to George Ritzer, McDonaldization is when tasks in everyday society, specifically within bureaucracies, are rationalized to the point that they are as efficient as possible. To me, this makes sense as an explanation of what has happened to society. Emphasis is placed on how much of something can be made and with the least amount of materials necessary and least steps in order to make a profit. When Max Weber defined …show more content…
Formal rationality has taken over the workplaces, causing most businesses to find the most efficient way of production at the expense of individual creativity and problem solving. New ideas are being made less, and the skills once required for a job have been automated and now require less skilled workers to go along with it. I feel this is a great way of explaining how things are in America’s societies today in terms of bureaucracies. Looking at McDonalization and the increasing rationalization among today’s bureaucracies, the structural functionalism perspective allows for this to make the most sense in order for society to remain stable and orderly. However, using the idea that society is inherently stable, rationalization to the
With these four processes, a strategy which is rational within a narrow scope can lead to outcomes that are harmful or irrational. The process of McDonaldization can be summarized as the way in 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."[2]
George Ritzer came up with the term “McDonaldization of Society” to explain a sociological phenomenon occurring in society, and identified four important principles; these include efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. The first, calculability, is defined as “The optimum method of completing a task. The rational determination of the best mode of production. Individuality is not allowed.” (Burleson). The second is defines as “Assessment of outcomes based on quantifiable rather than subjective criteria.” (Burleson). The third is defined as “The production process is organized to guarantee uniformity of product and standardized outcomes.” (Burleson). Lastly, control, is defined as “The substitution of more predictable non-human
Since its release in the year 1993, ‘The McDonaldization of Society’, has gone through various revisions and republications. Its on the context of the observations made by Ritzer, that the argument of the entire process of McDonaldization finds its place; which states that the concepts and principles followed by fast food restaurant chains, are rapidly taking over majority of the sectors in the American economy, and may dominate over the rest of the world (Ritzer, 2004, pg1).
McDonaldization is also called the standardization. The meaning of standardization is a standardization of a particular style of rationality. “It decreases the world to measurable objects which should not have a place in the worlds of culture and society”.(O’Byrne ad Hensby, 2011: 108) Additionally, one-dimensional society is a society considered as a group without having any alternatives and suggestions. “In other words, one-dimensional society is a society in which the shared values and aspirations celebrated by the structural-functionalists are revealed as masking an inherent lack of freedom.” (O’Byrne ad Hensby, 2011: 108)
King and Lawley (2013, p.601) stated that rationalisation can be defined as increasing the efficiency and reducing costs within a business, this idea incorporates the aspects of a bureaucracy and the scientific design of work). Within a rational organisation, bureaucracies are created through the implementation of policies and procedures which makes the organisation standardised, predictable and efficient. Organisations such as Junction hotel might consider adopting the key features of rationalisation, for example within a bureaucracy a hierarchy is created, this shows clear lines of communication within departments. King and Lawley (2013) show that within Junction hotel the organisational structure lacks span of control as Linda Wilkinson is in charge of 34 employees This was improved by making the span of control more manageable by delegating control through management, different departments can be created, within each department there is a head employee who was in charge of more staff. As an organisation grows, the number of employee’s increases, therefore Fayols’ five functions of management are implemented through impersonal control rather than direct face to face control. In contrast to rationalisation, King and Lawley (2013) describe the social organisation as a belief that the key factors in shaping an individual within the workplace are the social interactions between people. King and Lawley (2013) state that the findings from Hawthorne studies have been credited
The society of America today is total different for most Americans then what it was during the 1950s , 1960s , 1970s and on into the 80s. America today is one were black people have the vote and have the same rites as white men and women. Today the leader of the free world is Black some thing that many though would never happen in there generation. But there are still inequality in America today. Urban ghettos are still mostly full of uneducated black people. Black men in America are four times more likely to go to prison. Drop out rates for black students are higher then white and those going on to collage and university is lower then whites. This problem goose back centres. The problem is not because of today issue ( but they don’t help
Every day, Americans are called to make important choices that affect their lives and the lives of everyone around them. Eventually, each American must choose to embark on a life of individualism and profiteering or to live a humble and possibly humiliating life in the imago Dei, the “image of God.” This crucial decision that every American must make is influenced by the surrounding world.
How often do you go to a restaurant of some sort? Three, four times a week? When you go to these restaurants do you analyze the trends that takes place? That is exactly what George Ritzer did in 1993 when he created his theory on McDonaldization and the McDonaldization of society. McDonaldization is, “A process where non fast-food restaurants organizations are increasingly run like fast food restaurants such as McDonalds” (Class Notes). It continues to be a huge trend and a very successful process. The McDonaldization of society is, “a process where society is increasingly run like a fast-food restaurant” (Class Notes). These trends are even being taken into action beyond the restaurant business. Ritzer examined McDonalds, the fast food restaurant, and separated its customs into four dimensions: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. Earlier this week I decided to go to Hu Hot, a sit down restaurant, and analyze how McDonaldized it truly is.
Max Weber used the bureaucracy to represent how the society changes over time whereas Ritzer sees fast food restaurants as a better way to describe how societies change and become more of a contemporary thought pattern. Ritzer understands McDonaldization as a process in which it is slowly taking over the world, he says it can be summarised by just one small quote “the principle of fast food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of the American society as well as the rest of the world” (Ritzer 2008). He states that the past, present and future of McDonalization has appeared from the iron cage to fast food restaurants which shows that rationalisation is still developing, the iron cage is a way to describe it in the past and McDonaldization helps to describe it in today’s society, rationalisation will continue to progress until other contemporary sociologist find different ways to define it. Although McDonaldization offers many advantages as it gives customers quick food at low prices it also has disadvantages just like the bureaucracy they both suffer from irrationality, like fast food restaurants a bureaucracy can be a ‘dehumanising’ place to work and be served by. Many things are developed by technical devises rather than the human hand (Wynyard 1998)
Max Weber's theory of rationalization is an extensively studied theory within sociology. Weber’s theory uses the model of bureaucracy to symbolize the constant shifting ways of our society. Rationalization is the process of replacing rationally consistent rules for conventional or rather illogical rules within society. According to Weber, bureaucracy is the fundamental model of rational rule. They are extremely predictable, in both the job process but also labor production. Bureaucracies are more worried with the amount of production than the value of the product itself. Weber viewed this structure as ineffective and completely flawed.
McDonaldization of Society is a term created by a sociologist George Ritzer to define what is occurred in our society. Basically, McDonaldization is the method of rationalization, although taken to great levels. Rationalization is a sociological term that basically implies or explain the substitution of coherently steady guidelines for habitual or unreasonable rules. One of the crucial parts of McDonaldization is that any assignment can and must be efficient.
"McDonaldlization" as referred to by George Ritzer, author of The McDonaldlization of Society, is the establishment of rationalized systems and is an unconsciously embraced part of society. The four dimmensions that are McDonaldliztion is efficiency, predictability, calculability, and control. All of these elements established in most if not all jobs. Efficiency is the chooosing the most conductive outcome for a means to a given end. The Merriam-Webster 's meaning of efficiency is the ability to do something or produce something without wasting materials, time, or energy: the quality or degree of being efficient. We have become well adjusted to getting everything we want in a quick efficient manner. From something as simple and mundane as wanting a red light to quickly change at an intersection to something serious like impatiently waiting for a pregnancy test. Efficiency is a vital trait in the business world. It is foundation on which either an business will thrive and become a business empire or if it will tank and end up becoming bankrupt. Conserving time, money, and materials is crucial while mainting an acceptable level of output. Becoming efficient in a business simpled means reducing the costs of wasted inputs.Traffic is a great example of efficiency. Everyone who drives the road have one thing in common; they 're all trying to get somewhere, and more than likely, in a quick manner. It is that sense of "wanting everything in a quick way" we have become accustomed to
George Ritzer describes McDonaldization 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”. McDonaldization is the idea that our society is becoming more efficient and more fast paced. Rational systems can be defined as “unreasonable, dehumanizing systems that deny the humanity, the human reason, of the people who work within them or are served by them”.1 Today there are many types of businesses that are increasingly adapting the same values and principles of the fast-food industry to their needs. Rational systems are dehumanizing our society and seem to be even more irrational than convenient. “Almost every aspect of
The key concept of the sociological term for rationalization of society was first introduced by a sociologist/philosopher named Max Weber. Weber referring the key concept of rationalization was “an ongoing process to in which social interaction and institutions become increasingly governed by methodical procedures and calculable rules” (Edles…page.159). Further, describe as a form of vehicle for the course of societal development, value, traditions, and emotions were being displaced in favor of formal and impersonal bureaucratic practices, as mention in the textbook by (Edles…page.159). “Even though such practices may lead to a greater efficiency to reach one’s end goal, such then birth consequences of disenchantment to the world” (Edles…page.159). The key concept rationalization brings about the quickest way to attain goals for the society, and furthermore improve and constantly replacing the traditional ways of doing things to reach the end goal in the most effective and efficient way possible. And it is still constantly evolving from one form to another. Which seem like a fantastic practice to do because it brings about the result of what we want. However, such practices lead to the mundane pattern of doing things that are repeated over and over again. That ultimately crush the element of surprise in such one’s life.
The building square of McDonaldization is Max Weber's idea of legitimization, which is the way toward supplanting customary and enthusiastic idea with reason and proficiency. Weber trusted that most social orders all through history were represented by convention and that the most noteworthy pattern in present day humanism is an expanding legitimization of all aspects of our day by day lives. He likewise trusted that defense would proceed until the point when our general public would turn into an iron enclosure, dehumanizing everybody