Mcdonaldization
People At Work Coursework
Question To what extent do you consider this concept of the McDonaldization of society disturbing, expected or inevitable, for employees in the twentifirst century. Also the possible consequences for theories of human motivation and whether the concept applies equally to all jobs.
In this paper I will be analysing the effects McDonaldization has on society and the employees of the twentifirst century. I will be discussing whether McDonaldization is to be expected, accepted, rejected or is inevitable. I will also be arguing that McDonaldization does effect employee motivation, and how it fits in the numerous theories on motivation. McDonaldization as defined by George Ritzer is "the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society". This concept originally stems from the concept of bureaucracy, which was a type of organisational structure that aimed to rationalise and standardise its products and services and the processes it took to produce them.
McDonaldization differs somewhat from bureaucracy as it concerns itself with its five main points: Efficiency, Calculatability, Predictability and Control. For the emphasis to be on these points it has an effect on employee's jobs. Often it involves the de-skilling of the employees, under McDonaldization employees do not need a wide range of skills, In fact just to be productive they only need to know how to complete a single task. This has numerous benefits for the organisation, primarily it cuts down on training costs as it does not cost much to train for low skilled jobs, and as these jobs are so low skilled employees can be paid minimum wage. It also leaves employees with little bargaining power as staff can be replaced so easily. Jobs often become standardised and continually repetitive and leave room for little or free thinking or initiative to be employed. Staff are often replaced or governed by
Question To what extent do you consider this concept of the McDonaldization of society disturbing, expected or inevitable, for employees in the twentifirst century. Also the possible consequences for theories of human motivation and whether the concept applies equally to all jobs.
In this paper I will be analysing the effects McDonaldization has on society and the employees of the twentifirst century. I will be discussing whether McDonaldization is to be expected, accepted, rejected or is inevitable. I will also be arguing that McDonaldization does effect employee motivation, and how it fits in the numerous theories on motivation. McDonaldization as defined by George Ritzer is "the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of society". This concept originally stems from the concept of bureaucracy, which was a type of organisational structure that aimed to rationalise and standardise its products and services and the processes it took to produce them.
McDonaldization differs somewhat from bureaucracy as it concerns itself with its five main points: Efficiency, Calculatability, Predictability and Control. For the emphasis to be on these points it has an effect on employee's jobs. Often it involves the de-skilling of the employees, under McDonaldization employees do not need a wide range of skills, In fact just to be productive they only need to know how to complete a single task. This has numerous benefits for the organisation, primarily it cuts down on training costs as it does not cost much to train for low skilled jobs, and as these jobs are so low skilled employees can be paid minimum wage. It also leaves employees with little bargaining power as staff can be replaced so easily. Jobs often become standardised and continually repetitive and leave room for little or free thinking or initiative to be employed. Staff are often replaced or governed by
References: George Ritzer ‘The McDonaldization Of Society ' Abraham Maslow Fredrick Herzberg Dr Ellen Langer Mullins Buchanan & Huczynski