Ritzers Macdonaldization Essay Example for Free

Ritzers Macdonaldization EssayIn this essay, I aim to explore the name McDonaldization dubbed by esteemed Sociologist and University of Maryland Professor, George Ritzer, to correlate his findings with those of the English Sociologist Les Back and then ultimately examine the military group both Globally and Locally. Ritzers concepts ar fundamentally built around the theories of Max Weber, a German Sociologist who first established the root of rationalisation.More specifically, four headings were used to define this shift in the organizational grammatical construction of society Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability and Control of new technologies increasing the productivity of the upstart world. I volition explore the relevance of these headings later in this essay. Weber maintained it was bureaucratization that contributes to this advance in achieving the optimum way to ends (Ritzer, 2008, 25). The bureaucracy as Weber defines it seems to be the prototype for flawl ess corporate functionality. A bureaucracy is a large-scale organization composed of a hierarchy of offices.In these offices, people have certain responsibilities and must act in accordance with rules, written regulations, and means of compulsion exercised by those who occupy higher-level positions With an operating structure as tightly knit as described above, it is no surprise that the paradigm of formal modestness according to Ritzer, McDonalds, is unmatchable of the most envied business organisation models in the world. 50 million customers a day go away find eating places in 118 nations (Ritzer, 2008, 3). Thousands of businesses strive to emulate their successful rational framework yet fail to conquer, such(prenominal) as the fast-food giants, MacDonalds.Franchising at an unbelievable rate, McDonalds profits argon being maximized year after year as it expands worldwide. A British author Martin Plimmer captures the mastery of their expansion There be McDonalds everywhere . Theres one near you, and theres one being built right now even closer to you (Ritzer, 2008, 2). It is on the basis of this exorable power and infectious growth that Ritzer lays his McDonaldization theory. The process by which the principals of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world. Ritzer, 2008, 1).An separate aspect to this nonable commercial structure is McDonaldizations propensity to de-humanize. Teamed with bureaucratization, McDonaldization has the leverage to spread to modern society on a whole. Fears that people will be consumed by such a heavy emphasis on the rational and technical benefits of practicality and efficiency, destroying the human spirit and reducing them to nought more then a small cog in a ceaselessly moving mechanics (Macionis and Plummer, 2005143) as rational globalization expands.Sociologist Les Back puts forwards the positive and negative influences of the flourishin g technological interlock on globalisation in his monograph Local/Global. The concept of a global village the idea that through new technologies and new converging forms of economy and political state that the world is shrinking and decrease the importance of peoples differences (Back, 1998, 77) is one that can be both greatly agreed upon or just as easily denied, in my opinion.Firstly, It cannot be argued that one of McDonalds keys to its worldly success was its undecided American-style image, which many people outside the United States Of America hankered after. The book Golden Arches East by mob L. Watson describes vividly McDonalds highly anticipated entry into East Asia Prior to McDonalds opening in Beijing, the companys name was already popular among trendy consumers and it was lonesome(prenominal) natural that, when the first restaurant was opened in Beijing in April 1994, thousands lined up for the experience. (Watson, 1997, 48).Not only did this fascination generate bi llions of capital for McDonalds (and other fast-food diners such as KFC, Pizza hut etc. ) steering revenue away from Asias throw food industries but sociologically speaking, the influx of American-Style escapism in which the people of Asia were immersing themselves in spawned a marvel of multinationals refusal to local anaestheticize. Are Hamburgers on the Champs-Elysees or Chicken Nuggets by the Grand Canyon really necessary or is it just corporate extremism exercising their capability to the nth degree?Somehow Im not convinced it is a case that McDonalds cuisine is so delicious that we physically need to have it at bottom reach at all times, particularly in such countries such as France, Italy or Spain, where gastronomy is preponderant to their local culture. Backs theory on this type of globalisation seems a lot more simplistic. He argues that globalization can go hand in hand with the commercialization of exotic local cultures (Back, 1998, 74) but I ask to what extent is th is local commercialization succeeding? in general global multinationals are apparent in the rapidly developing worldwide industries, leaving little to zero space for contained business ventures to gain momentum. Although Back does recognize an effective uses of localization in advertising imagery to which these trans-national companies happily comply. Advertisers are willing to integrate all kind of notions of difference as long as they serve their propose (Back, 1998, 73). A fantastic example is that of the recent McDonalds advertising campaign, which was specifically intended for a clear Irish audience.Johnny Logan, a well-known Irish performer appearing to many different characters with brawny colloquial Irish accents, pulls in on regional interest. Vernacular phrases such as ye plank.. .. sound.. and .. free gaff.. are used, unmistakably local and familiar to McDonaldss Irish consumers. Back relates the decreasing size of global margins to advances in technologies, which o f course is impossible to deny.Although communication overseas and intercontinental conveyance is almost taken for granted at this stage, Back reiterates the speed at which this occurs and the inter-dependence this signifies. International flows of technology and media hardware strengthen the dependency relationship among the West and the former colonial peripheries and promote a form of cultural homogenization (Back, 1997, 72) In bruise of the fact that many of Ritzers examples are American the concept of this uniformity is at the heart of his authorship and falls down the stairs the four headings of McDonadization aforementioned.Predictability is one of the devices multinational corporations have taken under their wing in the development of a McDonaldized framework of business. Globally, these giant organizations do not start at the bottom when it comes to extending their trade name abroad and casting their image over seas. Wal-Mart bought out 120 stores in Canada in 1994 when it purchased the Wertkauf GmbH hypermarket chain in Germany in 1997, Similarly, when Starbucks moved into the U. K. n 1998, it acquiresd the already existing Seattle Coffee beau monde and refitted its 82 stores as Starbucks outlets(Klein, 2005, 139) Specifically many drinking chocolate shops have undergone Starbucksization to the point where any coffee shop in the western world could fail to posses a hint of originality.Insomnia, Costa Coffee and more and more McDonalds contribution to the market McCafe, are but a few of the cafe chains that are adapting to the modern competition. In our local environment a comprehensible instance of McDonaldization would be the excessive franchising of Spar shops in Ireland, eplacing another family corner shop as it unfurls over the country. As consumers weve experienced the components of Webers Rationalization and Ritzers McDonaldization in its plainest form. The efficiency of these stores is unrivalled, often containing Juice Bars, Off Licenc es, Delicatessens and Coffee shops, a conglomerate of dominance under one roof. Calculability by the selection of staff who work at each counter, pricing, weighing and recommending items for purchase.Chiefly the predictability of a Spar shop would almost be similar to what one would expect of a handful of McDonalds, the flooring, the lighting and the layout are all but slightly in difference nationwide. Finally, these environments are controlled not only by the presence of Security guards at the entrance to many branches but they are hi-tech and forward thinking in technologies in contrast with many of there older competitors, featuring Automatic doors and self check-out services.In conclusion, both George Ritzer and Les Back have some shared views and some conflicting ones on the matter of globalization and how it affects us directly and indirectly. Ritzers theory of McDonaldization worked alongside many of Backs viewpoints on technologies, in particular as regards the dimension o f control. Finally, the concepts of Global and Local, I believe will be disputed not only by both Ritzer and Back as the relationship worldwide decreases in size with the introduction of further connectivity when does the benefits of this begin and cease.