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The Globalization of McDonaldization
"If we eat McDonald's ham and potatoes for a thousand years, we will become taller, our skin will become white, and our hair will be blonde," {Schlosser}. This is a quote from Den Fujita, the Japanese billionaire who brought McDonalds to Japan. It is pronouncing the corporate mentality towards the Globalization of McDonaldization. What this means is not only have foreign businesses embraced the McDonaldization of business, but the lifestyle of the irrationality of rationality. According to critics of McDonaldization, if we let convenience and efficiency run rampant, it will lead us into a future of a homogenized world. McDonaldization consists of four elements, Efficiency, Calculability, predictability and Control. Ritzer calls these the dimensions of McDonaldization and is the four pillars on which capitalism now builds its empire, {Massey, pg 323}. Through efficiency, the service or product is offered in the most direct way. Calculability is the convincing of consumers that bigger is better and they get more for their money - Super Size it. In assuming that most people don't like surprises, businesses create homogeneous products or services offering a sense of predictability consumers come to expect. To accomplish all these dimensions a high amount of control must be implemented. "Ritzer's focus involves control through the substitution of non-human for human technology. By making tasks repetitive and forcing employees not to think, employers can maintain a tighter control over them,"{www.McDonaldization.com}. The McDonalds corporation lists this aspect as a mission statement for the company in "leveraging the strengths of the McDonald's system through innovation and technology," {.www.McDonalds.com}. The affects of McDonaldization can be seen everywhere today and it is reaching to extremes. There are several stores, most likely seen in suburban areas, like Wal-Mart where you can shop for just about anything from food to clothes, develop your film and eye-lenses in under an hour, pump your gas, access an ATM, eat at McDonalds and grab some Starbucks. Furthermore it can all be done without every interacting with a store employee using bankcards and automated checkout. Heightened security surveillance compensates for obvious concerns with minimized employees attending several checkout machines, both enforcing the dimension of control. The practice of co-branding and placing franchises within a franchise, McDonalds in Wal-Mart is creating a convenience factor that is unbeatable. Read more about the theory and its effects in Globalization at Jason Cangialosi's essay at the link provided. |
The Globalization of McDonaldization
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