THE MCDONALDIZATION OF

SOCIETY
Thomas Jawan NIM 19090017
William Soedharman NIM 19090036
ABOUT MCDONALD
 McDonald’s Corporation is
the world’s largest chain of
hamburger fast food
restaurants, serving nearly
47 million customers daily.

 A McDonald's restaurant is operated by either a

franchisee, an affiliate, or the corporation itself.
HEALTHY MCDONALD

 McDonald’s primarily sells

hamburgers, cheeseburgers,
chicken products, French fries,
breakfast menu, soft drinks,
milkshakes, and desserts.
 In response to obesity trends in Western nations and in
the face of criticism over the healthiness of its products,
the company has modified its menu to include such
healthier alternative as salads, wraps, fruit.
MCDONALDIZATION
...is 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. (Ritzer, 1993:1)
INTRODUCTION
 McDonaldization (or McDonaldisation) is a term used
by sociologist George Ritzer in his book The
McDonaldization of Society (1993).
 He describes it as the process by which a society takes
on the characteristics of a fast-food restaurant.
 McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of
rationalization, or moving from traditional to rational
modes of thought, and scientific management.
 Ritzer highlighted four primary components of
McDonaldization: Efficiency, Calculability,
Predictability, Control
EFFICIENCY
 Is the more familiar term used to describe a
formally rational process that employs the best
and quickest means to achieve a particular goal.
 The optimal method equates to the fastest
method to get from point A to point B.

 In the example of McDonald's customers, “Getting from a

state of being hungry to a state of being full”.
 Efficiency in McDonaldization means that every aspect of the
organization is geared toward the minimization of time.
CALCULABILITY
 Is the attempt to measure, calculate, and quantify
every aspect of the organizational process and
product.
 McDonaldization developed the notion that quantity
equals quality, and that a large amount of product
delivered to the customer in a short amount of time
is the same as a high quality product.

 This allows people to quantify how much they're getting

versus how much they’re paying.
 Workers in these organizations are judged by how fast
they are instead of the quality of work they do
CALCULABILITY
In the McDonald, every element of food preparation is measured and
timed.

 The 1.6 ounce precooked hamburger is

exactly 3.875 inches in diameter, fitting
on a bun that is 3.5 inches in diameter.
 Size and quantity are emphasized and
reflected in the menu items.

 Quantity takes predence over quality.

 The large quantity compensates for the low quality.
PREDICTABILITY
 Is built into the McDonaldization process in the way
the food is prepared and delivered and in terms of the
mutual expectation on both side of the counter.
 No matter where a person goes, they will receive the
same service and receive the same product every time
when interacting with the McDonaldized organization.

 Employees’ tasks are highly repetitive, highly routine, and predictable.

 The success of the McDonald’s model is based precisely on people
knowing what to expect and what they will get.
PREDICTABILITY
 Customers know what they
want when they walk through
the door, from the insincere
welcome to the disposal of
one’s garbage.
 People knowing what to expect and what they will get.

*The best surprise is no surprise.

CONTROL
 Is a fundamental feature of all
organizations.
 Particular characteristic of
McDonaldization.
 The leading source of unpreditability and uncertainty resides
in the human factor, the labor process is designed to minimize
employee discretion.
 Innovation is discouraged.
PRINCIPLES OF MCDONALDIZATION

McDonalization are applicable to almost

every sphere of life.

 Media CNN & USA Today (McNews).

 Banking through ATM (McMoney).

 Health care is dispensed through walk-in/walk out medical

centres (McHealth).
 Management practices are reduced to the “one minute
manager” (McManagement).
 College courses can be taken online in the comfort of one’s
home (McCollege)
DIFFUSION OF MCDONALDIZATION
 There is irrationality and rationality.
 Organization of society around rationality principles (effeciency,
calculibility, predictable, control), which are designed to achieve
particular goals, actually undermine the ability to realize other
objectives such as freedom, creativity, centomplation, quality and
individuality.

 Countercultural trends toward :

 Quality over quantity.
 Health food over fast food.
 Soliciting local independent businesses rather than franchises.
 Seeking out alternative less commercialized, services and
businesses
CONCLUSION
 With these four processes, a strategy which
is rational within a narrow scope can lead to
outcomes that are harmful or irrational.

 Ritzer suggests that in the later part of the Twentieth

Century the socially structured form of the fast-food
restaurant has become the organizational force representing
and extending the process of rationalization further into the
realm of everyday interaction and individual identity.
 McDonald's serves as the case model of this process in the
1990's.