Critical Analysis of Ritzer's McDonaldization Theory

This essay provides a critical analysis of George Ritzer's McDonaldization theory, examining its core principles of efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. It explores how these principles, originally observed in the fast-food industry, have permeated various aspects of modern society, including education, healthcare, and retail. The essay delves into the advantages and disadvantages of McDonaldization, such as increased efficiency versus reduced innovation and customization. It also discusses the concept of McJobs and the ongoing efforts towards de-McDonaldization. The analysis considers real-world examples to illustrate the theory's relevance and impact, offering a comprehensive understanding of how McDonaldization shapes contemporary social structures and individual experiences. The essay concludes by summarizing the theory's significance and implications for future societal developments.

Running Head: McDonaldization of Society
McDonaldization of Society
Critical analysis of Ritzer’s theory

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Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................1
Principles of McDonaldization..................................................................................................1
Efficiency...............................................................................................................................1
Education............................................................................................................................2
Furniture..............................................................................................................................2
Calculability...........................................................................................................................2
Education............................................................................................................................3
Healthcare...........................................................................................................................3
Construction........................................................................................................................3
Predictability...........................................................................................................................3
Routine functions of employees.........................................................................................4
Education............................................................................................................................4
Control....................................................................................................................................4
Retail stores.........................................................................................................................4
Social friendships................................................................................................................5
McJobs.......................................................................................................................................5
De-McDonaldization..................................................................................................................5
Advantages of McDonaldization................................................................................................6
Increased efficiency................................................................................................................6
Standard procedures...............................................................................................................6

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Saves time...............................................................................................................................6
Disadvantages of McDonaldization...........................................................................................6
Reduced Innovation................................................................................................................6
Reduced customization...........................................................................................................7
Reduced wages.......................................................................................................................7
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................7
References..................................................................................................................................8

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Introduction
The theory of McDonaldization of the society was first coined by sociologist George Ritzer
in the year 1993. His simple idea pointed towards the fact that most organizational systems
today have adopted the methodology and principles of a fast food restaurant (Ritzer, 2009).
The reason the term was called McDonaldization was because of the wide spread presence
and accessibility to McDonalds in the entire world.
There are numerous aspects to this theory. To begin with, it is important to understand the
characteristics that our society has adopted from the fast food industry. Every visit at
McDonalds ensures fast delivery of food, standardized menu similar taste across the globe,
standardized procedures and immense control of the brand on the product. When the same
logic is applied to organizations, it is clearly evident by their emphasis on reduced cost and
time, laying importance on quantity, replacing humans by non-human technology and highly
repetitive, routine and predictable tasks performed by employees (Ford, 1994).
Even though, these changes have been visible in most organizations, it is difficult to agree
with Ritzer in entirety. There are various organizations which foster innovation through
different tasks, lay emphasis on quality over quantity and employ skilled workers with
minimum outside control.
This report throws light on the details of Ritzer’s theory and the four principles of
McDonaldization stated by him. Efforts have been put in to critically analyse the theory and
both sides of the coin have been considered and researched without any biasness. The idea of
McJobs and its visibility and acceptability has also been discussed in the report.
Principles of McDonaldization
Ritzer has given four important principles to establish and prove the McDonaldization of the
society. These four principles help to establish how our society and its various aspects
including education, workplace and lifestyle have changed overtime.
Efficiency
Efficiency refers to choosing the optimum means to reach a given end. Every visit to
McDonalds depicts its focus on efficiency of its service. Customers are able to get procure

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food at a less cost, the food tastes just the same irrespective of geographical boundaries and
entire time taken between reaching McDonalds and getting food is much lesser as compared
to a fine dining restaurant. The same concept is adopted by our organizations. Maximum
utilization of resources in the least amount of time is the motto of workplaces across the
globe.
Efficiency of McDonald’s requires customers to do a lot more work like getting their own
beverage, self-service, disposing their trays by themselves and getting their own condiments.
Let us take examples to elaborate the same:
Education
The society depicts an era of mass education. The number of students per teacher has
massively increased. This is a perfect example of efficiency which means optimum utilization
of resources. College education is simply considered as a means to a successful career and the
focus on learning is almost negligible. Colleges are under immense pressure from the state
legislature to reduce cost and increase efficiency. Students are simply considered customer
and little focus is given to teaching them things apart from the curriculum (Nicholson, 2015).
Furniture
The world’s largest furniture store IKEA does not sell assembled furniture. It provides
furniture at a lower cost but expects its customers to do this work. Their products are flat
packed so that most customers can carry it in their cars (Lofgren, 2015). Their furniture is
similar across the globe irrespective of the geography. Various other furniture stores are
adopting the same ideology and increasing the work done by customers to reduce time and
cost for the firm.
Calculability
This aspect refers to the incessant focus on quantity rather than quality of products
manufactured and sold. Each burger at McDonalds tastes the same. The customer can order
according to how hungry they are. They have options like Mac, Big Mac and double big Mac.
The focus on portions and size is quite significant (Ong, 2017). People assume a big Mac
would be better than a Mac. Examples in our society focusing on the calculability are as
below:

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Education
Education sector has seen numerous students getting filled in a single classroom under a
single teacher because the focus is on the number of students that enrol with the university.
The focus on the quality of education provided to students is barely existent. Students are
hardly taught anything besides the university curriculum. For any extra learning they are
expected to take further coaching outside the university. Qualities like gratitude, honesty,
simplicity; learning is not paid attention to. Even students tend to work on scoring better
marks and acquiring a better job rather than focussing on their learning.
Healthcare
Even in an industry as critical as healthcare, it has been noticed that most doctors are working
overtime due to the increasing number patients the hospital wishes to cater to. Hospital staff
offers the most expensive treatment to the patients in order to earn more money and little
focus is paid on the quality of patient care (Dorsey, 2016).
Construction
Many times it has been observed that the construction industry focuses on the quantity
(Number of flats and office spaces sold, height of the building and how fast is it constructed)
and not on the quality. The construction industry is under immense pressure to build the
tallest building in the least cost. This leads to employees using bad quality material.
Importance is given to selling the flats to most number of people rather than the quality of the
building they live in.
Predictability
McDonalds’ burgers taste the same irrespective of which part of the globe is it consumed in.
Every customer knows exactly what to predict when they enter a McDonalds’ outlet. In a
rational setting, people are more comfortable when they are aware what might happen in the
future. They like to know what they can expect and this leads to similar outputs. Our society
offers various examples of predictability in its natural setting, some of these are as below:

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Routine functions of employees
Employees across different industries are performing routine and repetitive tasks. Although
this helps them get jobs in the same industry even in different geographic locations, it
restricts their creativity and innovation. Organizational structures and cultures are such that
any employee willing to change his or her department will have to start from scratch in the
new department. Promotions and rewards are given to employees who master one art and
work in the same.
Education
Online education is the trend which is catching up fast. A student can be sitting many miles
away in a different continent and get the same education which others are getting. The
teachers are remotely located and contact the students via video conference calls (Carroll,
2013). Reading materials are sent via online sources and tests are taken using various internet
applications. The degrees are awarded to students online. These classes are conducted in such
a real time manner that they are as effective as offline education (Ritzer, 2013).
Control
McDonalds has managed to have a strong control on its burgers by replacing humans with
non-human technology. Tasks performed by technology ensure standardization and leave no
room to customize products as per the desires of individual customers. This advancement of
technology is seen in every aspect of the society. Technological errors are always lesser than
human errors and this has led to increased dependency on machines. This is also led to
reduction in value of human employees unless they can continue to improvise. Examples of
this control setting in our society are as below:
Retail stores
Retail stores depict very efficient usage of technology. Wal-Mart has self-checkout stores
where products purchased by customers are read on barcode and the respective amount is
automatically deducted from their credit cards. This helps save time and increases control by
reduction chances of error by outlet staff.

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Social friendships
In the era of advanced technology even people’s social relationships are built via social
networking websites. People make profiles on these websites and connect with others. These
friendships are solely based on remaining connected over the internet. Every individual on an
average has over 1000 friends on Facebook. This feature also associates well with efficiency.
As the idea is to increase the number of friends rather than fostering friendships into
meaningful relationships.
McJobs
McJobs is a slag used to low paying, low prestige and dead end jobs that require few skills
and offers little growth or learning for the employee. The culture of increasing McJobs is
highly disturbing. There are three predominant reasons behind the rise of McJobs in the
society today. Firstly the increase in technology reduces the demand for employees as the
same work can now be done by machines (Noppeney, 2014). Secondly, universities are not
paying enough attention to develop and grow skills in their students. Most students complete
university education to get a job rather than to learn anything substantial (Altbach, 2013).
Lastly, the job market is significantly reducing in size. Employee attrition is high and hence
little efforts are put behind training and development of employees in an organization
(Kennedy, 2017).
De-McDonaldization
Many organizations are realizing the problems associated with McDonaldization in the
society and are hence actively working towards De-McDonaldization or reducing its impacts.
The focus on quality products has increased for example the airline and hotel industry
consistently works to ensure their customers have a satisfying experience. Even if there are
four passengers in a flight or there are 2 customers in a movie theatre, the show goes on and
they are provided impeccable service.
Routine jobs are now slowly getting shifted and organizations are working to foster
innovation and creativity. This is done by conducting training and development seminars,
conducting team building activities and decentralized decision making.

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Even product customization is now being focussed upon. The ideal example is shopping
applications like myntra, flipkart and amazon sell clothes. They are selling standard clothes
which are available for everyone across the globe. However the customers are given an
option to select size, colour and delivery options.
Advantages of McDonaldization
McDonaldization offers various benefits to the society:
Increased efficiency
Due to McDonaldization it is easier to increase efficiency and serve more number of people
at the same time. Education centres take up many students and they are all taught by the same
teacher. Hence a single teacher can now teach many students at the same time (Nadolny,
2015).
Standard procedures
Procedures in various organizations are standardized and hence no distinguishing is done on
the basis of caste, creed, sex etc. Standard procedures also reduce chances of error and help
save time.
Saves time
McDonaldization saves time of teachers, doctors, salesmen etc. McDonaldization focuses on
increased efficiency and hence helps in saving time. More students are catered to by the same
teacher in the same time. More patients are treated in the same time and more customers are
able to efficiently check out at the same time (Archer, 2017).
Disadvantages of McDonaldization
Reduced Innovation
McDonaldization creates standardised tasks which the employees are supposed to follow and
work accordingly. This reduces innovation and leaves the employee with less room for
improvisation and developing personal skills (Dodgson, 2013).

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Reduced customization
As a customer, the biggest disadvantage of McDonaldization is reduced customization. Every
customer, in every industry is treated the same. Students do not receive education based on
their skills and areas of interest (Hayes, 2017). This reduced customization may lead to
customer dissatisfaction and hence they may switch to better options.
Reduced wages
Once the technological advancements are made, the value of skilled labour significantly
reduces and hence they are offered lower wages. A machine is usually much faster than an
individual. This replacement of labours in a workplace with technology has reduced
employee efficiency, employee demand and hence their wages (Moore, 2014).
Conclusion
McDonaldization was a term coined by Ritzier in 1993. It refers to the society, its institutions,
its organizations and its people adopting the features and characteristics of a fast food
restaurant. McDonaldization has four factors Predictability, Control, Efficiency and
Calculability. Like both sides of a coin, McDonaldization comes with a set of pros and cons.
Improved and faster service to customers, efficient mechanisms and increase in saved time
are key positives of McDonaldization whereas lower wages, less customization and reduced
innovation are major drawbacks of the same.

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International Imperative in Higher Education (pp. 111-113). Sense Publishers.
Archer, J., Nunn, S. and de Bere, S.R., 2017. The McDonaldization of appraisal? Doctors’
views of the early impacts of medical revalidation in the United Kingdom. Health
Policy, 121(9), pp.994-1000.
Carroll, N., 2013. E-learning–the McDonaldization of education. European Journal of
Higher Education, 3(4), pp.342-356.
Dodgson, M., Gann, D.M. and Phillips, N. eds., 2013. The Oxford handbook of innovation
management. OUP Oxford.
Dorsey, E.R. and Ritzer, G., 2016. The McDonaldization of medicine. JAMA
neurology, 73(1), pp.15-16.
Ford, R., 1994. The McDonaldization of Society: An investigation into the changing
character of contemporary social life. Clinical Sociology Review, 12(1), p.25.
Hayes, D. ed., 2017. Beyond McDonaldization: visions of higher education. Taylor &
Francis.
Kennedy, P., 2017. Living with Twenty-First-Century Capitalism. In Vampire
Capitalism (pp. 99-129). Palgrave Macmillan UK.
Löfgren, O., 2015. Design by IKEA. A Cultural History.
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Workers' Compensation, and product liability. Princeton University Press.
Nadolny, A. and Ryan, S., 2015. McUniversities revisited: a comparison of university and
McDonald's casual employee experiences in Australia. Studies in Higher Education, 40(1),
pp.142-157.
Nicholson, K.P., 2015. The McDonaldization of academic libraries and the values of
transformational change. College & Research Libraries, 76(3), pp.328-338.

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Noppeney, C., Endrissat, N. and Kärreman, D., 2014, January. Branding McJobs: The Art of
Symbolic Compensation. In Academy of Management Proceedings (Vol. 2014, No. 1, p.
11496). Academy of Management.
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