McDonaldization About seven months ago, I met an American guy who had arrived at New Zealand just a few days before. While exchanging our sentiments (I am from Japan) on New Zealand and its culture, the guy told me how he was surprised to see the country is so Americanised, mentioning McDonald’s as one of the examples. Now, in a different sense, this was surprising to me, too. I had never had the idea that having McDonald’s is being Americanised. In fact, McDonald’s is nearly everywhere in the world so that many people think it has already become part of their own cultures. But then the question arises: How did this come to be the case? Here is a brief outline of its history (based on Hebert, 1997; McDonald’s Corp., 1997; Mclennan, 1996). History In 1937, McDonald’s was founded as a small local restaurant by two brothers, Maurice and Richard McDonald in Pasadena, California. In 1948, the brothers then converted their barbecue drive-in with car hops into limited-menu, self-service drive-in, in San Bernardino, California - the first advent of quick service restaurant industry. It is in April 1955, however, that the real ‘McDonald’s Corporation’ launched, by a salesman called Ray Kroc, who gained exclusive US franchising rights from the brothers. Starting with Des Plaines, Illinois, McDonald’s rapidly extended its outlets first over the Chicago area, then the US and eventually all over the world, including two largest restaurants in Moscow (1990) and Beijing (1992), both with 700 seats. There are currently over 21,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries (and about 100 in New Zealand), and the 1996 year-end systemwide sales reached 31.812 billion dollars, 59 percent of which came from the outside of the US. McDonaldization The worldwide business of McDonald’s is not just a globalisation of its economy. In his book, ‘The McDonaldization of Society,’ the American sociologist Dr. George Ritzer (1993, cited by Allan, 1997) contends that it also represents the process of rationalisation - “... the master concept of Max Weber’s analysis of modern capitalism, referring to a variety of related processes by which every aspect of human action became subject to calculation, measurement and control” (Abercrombie, Hill & Turner, 1988, p.902, cited by Allan, 1997). According to Ritzer, McDonaldization can be understood in terms of the following aspects: (1) Eff... ... middle of paper ... ...t Since I am not a sociology-major student, my understanding of McDonaldization may not be accurate, and I certainly do not have a clue on whether such phenomena are good or bad. Still, the point I want to make here is clear: Our societies are increasingly reigned by global standards, which profoundly affect the way we think, process information, and interact with others. (Yes, I know this is a kind of cliché in psychology.) Without doubt, McDonald’s and its ideas define part of our lives, and across cultures, we definitely share certain commonalities, both materially and psychologically. The only concern that remains, however, is the fact that the standardisation is typically based on the fashion preferred by those who are socially affluent or culturally dominant. In this regard, the same is true for the ‘internet’ system. Surely, this technology is a revolutionary tool that not only removes boundaries from the realms of our social interactions, but also pushes further the potential of human cognitive development. Nonetheless, information found on the net is the product of people who have access to computers, with inevitable reflection of their own personal or social viewpoints.
Around the world, McDonald’s iconic golden arches are more recognizable as an American symbol than the Christian cross (Schlosser, 2001). The interactionist perspective attempts to use symbolism and the information given by everyday interactions to better understand how society operates as a whole. This perspective views the impact of McDonaldization through its effect on the lives of everyday people throughout the world. The interactionist perspective would view the trend of McDonaldization as a negative influence on our culture because it takes away meaningful aspects of communication and originality in order to be more
"McDonaldization.com - What Is It?" McDonaldization.com - What Is It? Rogue Valley Group, 2009. Web. 15 Mar. 2014. .
In today’s world, technology and current norms drive a large portion of everyday life that the vocabulary becomes a common universal language. For example, if you don’t know or understand something, just “google” or ask “siri” about it, write a “blog” about a recent experience, or witnessed the latest “post” that has received over 1.6K “likes”. George Ritzer describes the same thing with the fast food restaurant McDonald’s in his video “The McDonaldization of Society”. He defines McDonaldization as the process by which principles of the fast food restaurant have begun to overflow and dominate all aspects of our world.
It all begins when Hamlet discovers that his father was murdered by his own brother. He
Hamlet was very disappointed with his life because he knew that becoming king was one thing that he didn't have in common with his father, because his stepfather was king, “married with my uncle, my father's brother" (I. ii. 151-2). Hamlet was very upset by his mother's marriage, and as he learns later, his father was as well, "It is not nor it cannot come to good: But break, my heart; for I must hold my tongue" (I. ii. 157-8). The ghost of Hamlet's father advises his own opinion, "Let not the royal bed of Denmark be A couch for luxury and damned incest" (I. v. 82-3).
sociologist George Ritzer argues that the relationship between McDonald’s and our society runs even deeper. Beyond its commercial propaganda and symbolism, Ritzer says, McDonald’s is a potent manifestation of the rational processes that define modern society.
National Restaurant Association. 2013 Restaurant Industry Pocket Factbook. Rep. National Restaurant Association, 2013. Web. 30 Oct. 2014. .
From just one restaurant in San Bernadino, California, run by two brothers, McDonald’s has grown to become the best known and most popular fast food restaurant chain in the world.
Everyone has heard of McDonald’s, but where did this familiar name come from? When people think of American food, it is not uncommon for two golden arches to appear in their minds. This story began with two brothers Dick and Mac McDonald who owned and ran a small restaurant in San Bernardino, California during the 1940s. In 1954 a man named Ray Kroc came across these two brothers while selling multi-mixers and was impressed with the business they were running. The menu was compact, listing options for only a few burgers, fries and beverages, but the restaurant was effective in its operation. Ray Kroc pitched the idea of spreading McDonald’s restaurants across the United States and in 1955 he founded the McDonald’s Corporation. By 1960 he bought the exclusive rights to the name. Kroc was able to expand substantially on this small business so that by 1958 McDonald’s sold its 100 millionth hamburger. (“McDonald’s.com”)
conduct of Hamlet’s madness is too ludicrous” and in fact he has really gone mad
According to Royle (1999) McDonald’s is a very large multinational enterprise (MNE) and the largest food service operation in the world. Currently the company has 1.5 million workers with 23,500 stores in over 110 countries with the United Kingdom and Germany amongst the corporation’s six biggest markets, and over 12,000 restaurants in the United States. In 1974 the United Kingdom corporation was established and in 1971 the Germany corporation was established, currently the combined corporation has over 900 restaurants and close to 50,000 employees in each of these countries (Royle, 1999).
McDonalds Canada opened in 1967, thirteen years after McDonalds had taken the United States by storm. This was the first restaurant to be opened outside of the United States.
Have you ever wondered how the business empire of McDonalds was started? With over ninety nine billion served, it was started in 1940 in San Bernardino, California. It was started off as just a Bar-B-Q that served just twenty items. Its first mascot was named “Speedee” They eventually realized that by setting up their kitchen like an assembly line that they could be much more productive and get their food done faster, with every employee doing a specified job; the restaurants production rate became much higher. A milkshake machine vendor came into their small restaurant one day, his name was Ray Kroc.
RITZER, G (2008) The McDonaldisation of Society (5th edition) London: Sage. (Ch. 3 – Efficiency)
Its history spans almost 80 years when it started at Corbin (Kentucky-USA), in the 1930s. During this period the United States was under The Great Depression with almost 25% unemployment rate. The hard time was probably one of the biggest factor in forcing Harland Sanders ("The Colonel") to start experimenting with various mix of spices and herbs, trying to get the best formula for his recipe. (If we still remember the Asian Economic Crash 1997-2002, one of the last remaining business that kept going during the recession was the food industry).