Calculability
I like big things The size of them impresses me Just give me plenty Forget about the quality And I like fast food The burgers always taste the same No snotty waiters, Escargot or Beaujolais Music Time Dennis DeYoung/Styx |
George Ritzer describes the process of McDonaldization asthe way "the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as of the rest of the world" (1). He explains that it occurs when a society adopts the characteristics of the popular fast food restaurant McDonalds. The film Food, Inc, traced the origins of modern-day food production to the fast food industry, particularly focused on McDonald’s. To make their business even more successful, McDonalds cut their menu and limited it to a few key items that could be produced in mass quantities quickly. Following the method of the assembly line, workers were trained to do only one thing, so they could be paid cheaply and easily replaced. Since then, McDonalds’ success has made the company the largest purchaser of beef in the world, and their demand for uniformity in their products has changed the entire beef producing industry- McDonaldization.
I decided to break normalcy by asking cafeteria workers to serve me my food at my table, clear it when I finished eating and pour me water into a cup from a water bottle. In addition, instead of getting in line and waiting my turn, I went to the front when I made my demands. At first the cafeteria workers and the people in line thought I was joking and proceeded to laugh and continue what they were doing. In the middle of one of the workers taking the order of another student I interrupted and made my request a second time. At this point, amusement turned into annoyance from the cafeteria workers and uncomfortable silence from the people in line. I was told that I was holding up the line and wasting time and I had the options of getting in line with everybody else or leaving. I wanted to see if while being served I would be treated differently. When it was my turn in line instead of asking me what I would like, the worker just looked at me with an irritated expression and when she handed me my plate and I said thank you she said nothing. It surprised me that she felt so bothered by my request to change up a part of her normal routine. The four primary components of McDonaldization are efficiency, calculability, predictability and control. Efficiency is the best and fastest way to complete a task. In the instance of the cafeteria, this would be the best and fastest way to get people from being hungry to being full. Because every aspect is geared towards minimizing time, traditionally cafeteria workers ask a person what they want, place it on the plate quickly and then hand it over the counter. The person then takes their food and finds their own place to sit and that's the only contact they have with the workers. This allows for more people to be served in a fast manner which leads to the next component: calculability. McDonaldization advanced the theory that quantity is equal to quality and that a large amount of food delivered to customers in a relatively short amount of time is the same as serving them a high quality product. This is so people evaluate how much they're getting versus how much they paid for it. Companies want consumers to feel like they are getting a large amount of product for a minimal price. In this instance, the cafeteria meal plan. Many of the people who eat in the cafeteria are students with meal plans. They are encouraged to purchase the plan as a cost efficient way to eat in college with the promise of an unlimited amount of meals. In addition, the cafeteria workers are judged by how fast they can get food on the plate instead of the quality of work they are producing so yes, the food might be on the tray but it might not be presented in the best way. The third component is predictability. The workers's tasks are repetitive, routine and predictable. Ritzer says a McDonaldized society, "...emphasizes such things as discipline, order, systemization, formalization, routine, consistency, and methodical operation. In such a society, people prefer to know what to expect in most settings and at most times" (79). The last component is control. This refers to management's desire to have their workers appear and act the same towards every person they encounter. It can also refer to the use of robots and technology to reduce or replace human employees wherever possible. In this case, I disturbed the system by asking for my drink to be poured when there are already drink machines available. McDonaldization affects our values, preferences, worldviews, and social relationships. I was surprised to find the impact of McDonaldization throughout my life because I had never thought about it before, but I definitely will now. |