Theories Of Mcdonaldization

Critically analyse Ritzer’s theory of ‘McDonaldization’ and the associated term ‘McJobs’. To what extent do you agree with Ritzer’s argument that a ‘McDonaldization of Society’ is occurring in modern times, said to be characterized by the increasing rationalisation of work organisation? Illustrate arguments with practical real-world examples.

In this essay, I will be critically analysing Ritzer’s theory of ‘Mcdonaldization’ as well as examining the associated term ‘Mcjobs’. After identifying the key aspects of the topic, I will then decide whether I personally believe that a ‘Mcdonaldization of society’ is occurring in modern times due to the increasing rationalization of the work organisation, which will be illustrated with real world examples.

The term ‘Mcjobs applies to the companies who have become most affected by the process of McDonaldization. Sociologist Amitai Etzioni was the first to apply the term to describe an occupation as a ‘Mcjob’ in an essay written for the Washington post titled ‘Mcjob’s are bad for kids’. A Mcjob refers to an occupation which is low paid and requires little skill, offering employees little chance of promotion and rare opportunity for advancement. There are both advantages and disadvantages of obtaining a Mcjob. Advantages include the fact that a Mcjob provides employment for millions of people around the world including teenagers and minorities, training them in basic customer service skills which can act as experience for future jobs allowing employees to move up the occupational ladder after leaving the company. It is not only lower sector jobs who have incorporated Mcdonaldization to organise activities, middle sector jobs have also began incorporating strategies associated with Mcjobs which has rapidly decreased the amount of unemployment as little skills are needed to apply. The disadvantages of a Mcjob is that both lower and middle sector jobs have become prone to the idea of deskilling employees. A Mcjob consists of a series of simple tasks performed as efficiently as possible. The duration of a task is carefully calculated with close attention payed to the amount of time it takes to complete, disregarding the quality of the employee’s work. The work of a Mcjob is so basic that they provide no meaning to the worker as little effort is required to complete the finished product, work is also predictable and employees will often spend an entire shift repeating the same task. Finally, the work required in a Mcjob is often so