Reading Reflection
Ritzer considers the influence of MacDonald’s policy on contemporary societies. According to Ritzer people have incorporated the MacDonald’s policy in virtually all aspects of life such as in the healthcare, education, work, religion, politics, family and other private and public sectors. The MacDonaldization that the article discusses is not the typical MacDonald’s enterprise but the struggle to expand businesses and franchises throughout the United States and beyond. To attract as many consumers as possible, within and globally, businesses have adopted the franchising principles that Ray Kroc used to expand the MacDonald's restaurants.
Further, companies package their products in different sizes and shapes in a bid to circumvent monotony and to attract more people. In so doing, organizations target efficiency, predictability, control, and computability aspects. Ritzer also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of the expansion aspects of businesses and the detrimental effects. According to Ritzer, businesses rationalize their operations by establishing organizational structures where administrators must abide by specific responsibilities. They commit resources towards finding fast way of generating products in large quantities. As such, modern organizations are keen on replacing human workers with technology in the production process and ensure greater control of the products.
The foregoing MacDonaldization practices in contemporary dealings influence the societies’ broader thinking. For instance, people tend to buy the products that they are most familiar with and that are closest to them. As such, businesses ensure that target consumers are familiar with their products and services and avail such products and services closest to them to influence consumer choices. People tend to consider products that they encounter most to be the best and end up acquiring them. In most cases, people do not make informed choices rather their choices are influenced by the subjectivity of advertisements.
The ideas that the reading expounds are relatable to real-life experiences. Rarely do people travel far to obtain a product when there is an alternative product nearby. People experience the aspects that Ritzer advances in the reading not only in the economic aspect but also in the social and political facets. In the political aspect, people mostly encounter MacDonaldization during the electioneering periods. Political parties sell their symbols using products such as printed shirts, caps, televised advertisements, and placing posters to virtually every place. This is a typical example of MacDonaldization.
Discussion Point
Ritzer’s main discussion points are control and predictability. These aspects have positive and negative outcomes as regards rationality and irrationality. The recent debate on healthcare exemplifies such outcomes. This means that people are not certain of the outcomes of any business propositions especially in the service industry. In light of the foregoing, other than MacDonaldization can corporations and government utilize other approaches to produce the desired outcome?
