Mcdonaldization Essays (1812 words) - Criticism Of Fast Food

Mcdonaldization The McDonaldization of Society Outline Chapter 1 McDonaldization is when a certain area starts to acquire efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. a. McDonalds as America-This is meant that McDonalds is a part of America and everything that other countries want in there country. It is a symbol of a growing culture. b. The long arm of McDonaldization- this long arm is McDonalds reaching out to every country. They are trying to put a McDonalds there, they want to dominate in every country. c. The dimension of McDonaldization- The four dimensions of McDonalds are: Efficiency- McDonalds is efficient in every way, best location, you can get your food quick, easy from going to being hungry to being full. Calculability- they sell everything in just the right proportions, for a good price. Bigger is better Control- they control everything, from lines being short, limited menu, few options and uncomfortable seats so the people eat quicker and leave quicker. d. Advantages of McDonaldization- there are lots of advantages: - Wide rage of goods and services - Availability of goods and services - People are able to get what they want or get it almost right away conveniently - Goods and Services are far more uniform quality e. Critique of McDonaldization- this is meant by, that McDonalds has a lot of pluses, but it must certainly have a lot of downfalls. What is not McDonaldized? Things that arent Mcdonalized are small mom and pop stores and bed and breakfast inns. Most of the places that are personally runned not by big corporations. Chapter 2 McDonalds had a few precursors before it became such a big company. They just didnt pop up out of the thin air. Bureaucratization was a part of the growth people had to listen to each other. People had to carry out responsibilities. The Holocaust is compared as a McDonalized society. They had all the characteristics such as control, calculability, and efficiency. The assembly line was also very important, workers were not to do any steps that they were not to do, some of the parts had to move the least possible distance, machines were to move things not humans, and complicated movements are eliminated. Levittown was also a result of the assembly line. The Levit brothers put up house really quick using that method. The malls also were invented, they were good for many reasons. They had lots of stores under one roof, making it easier for people to shop instead of traveling to different places everything was under one room even a food court to eat. Chapter 3 1. Efficiency increases the pace of life. When you have efficiency it saves time and money. It keeps perfect timing production, faster services, streamlined operations and a tight schedule. Efficiency is choosing the optimum means to and end. The restaurant business really didnt need efficiency, but it helped efficiency be turned into a way of life. 2. Home cooking- Efficiency was created with home cooking by creating supermarkets with food and all you have to do is go buy the food. You dont have to go threw the hassles of hunting your food. TV dinners added to the efficiency. Cookbooks also added to the efficiency. Shopping- shopping was made more efficient when we created malls. Having all sorts of stores under one roof. Without having to travel from place to place and waste time. At a mall you have a food court movies and all kinds of stores to satisfy your needs as well as others needs. Higher Education- this has become more efficient in some ways. A while ago teachers used to grade papers by hand, know all they have to do is give a multiple choice exam and the machine will grade it for them saving lots of time. Health Care- they have the new heart surgery assembly line, which makes it faster and more efficient to do. They also have walk in and walk out clinics to take care of your problem in one appointment. Whatever your problem is they give you the maximum cure to cure you in one visit. Entertainment- this turned efficient when we started having video rentals instead of going the movies. We also have television with the option of watching two shows at once. Pay per view is also another option, instead of going out to rent a move just