Mcdonaldization of Society Essay Example

The McDonaldization of: If you have ever had a meal in a restaurant (fast-food/formal dining), used an ATM in a bank, spent your vacation at an amusement park or simply browsed through a mall, you have been exposed to McDonaldization. McDonaldization is "the process by which the principles of the fast food restaurant are coming to dominate more and more sectors of America society as well as the rest of the world" (Ritzer, 1996, 1). Nearly ever aspect of today's society has been affected by McDonaldization including the restaurant business, education, work, healthcare, travel, leisure, dieting, politics and the family (Ritzer, 1996, 1). I observed three East Side Mario's Restaurant's establishments while the dinner menu was being served on Saturday evenings between 6pm and 8pm to evaluate the ways in which McDonaldization has affected their company. On January 29th I visited East Side Mario's in London, Ontario, on February 19th I visited East Side Mario's in Plano, Texas (I used to hold a job as a server at this location) and on February 26th I visited East Side Mario's in Orange, California. With the diversity of locations I was able to observe, I compared and contrasted many angles of the East Side Mario's concept. East Side Mario's Restaurants Inc. is one of the millions of business' that has implemented the four principles of McDonaldization, which are: efficiency, calculability, predictability, and control. With the assistance of Bernard Platt, Vice President of Marie Callender's Pie Shops, Inc., former Vice President of East Side Mario's Restaurant, Inc., I will offer a condensed presentation of East Side Mario's history to get you familiar with the business. East Side Mario's Restaurants, Inc., is a wholly owned division of Marie Callender's Pie Shops, Inc. In 1987 a partnership of restaurateurs developed the ESM (for the remainder of this case study I will us the initial ESM to refer to East Side Mario's Restaurants, Inc.) concept in