Sociology

As discussed in class, McDonaldization is a term described by sociologist George Ritzer to describe the process whereby the society has taken the characteristics of the popular McDonald fast food restaurant. He argues that human interaction and identity is affected by social structural change. He has used McDonald as the case model to show how many social actions and interactions are based on design efficiency instead of motivation from morality, emotion, custom, or tradition. The society is therefore moving away from the traditional modes of thought and towards a more rational mode of thought. Ritzer suggests that there are four factors that have made McDonald Corporation successful and these factors also tend to affect other aspects of the society like education, work, health care, travel, leisure, dieting, politics, family and many more. Hence these factors have come to dominate many sectors in the society all over the world (Ritzer 1). These characteristics include Efficiency, Calculability, Predictability, and Control. They are also the same characteristics identified by Max Weber for a rationalized system. This paper discusses the McDonaldization of sports

Efficiency- This means the optimal method of accomplishing a task i.e. choosing an optimum means to a given end (Ritzer 40). Usually there are many ways of searching and accomplishing greater efficiency but a McDonaldized system has taken the form of streamlining various processes, simplifying the goods and services and using the customers to do work that was being done by employees. The customers are not paid for this. Many people desire efficiency, but in a McDonaldized system, efficiency is thrust upon you and you are forced to accept it. What McDonald considers efficient is not necessarily what the customer considers efficient. A good example is the issue of buying tickets for a game or a sporting event. We used to buy tickets from a ticket office where an employee would sell you the ticket and heshe would stamp the ticket for you. But nowadays technology has taken over and one can buy a ticket from an automated telephone service, through the internet and from ticket machines. This has improved the efficiency because we can now buy the tickets easily and instantly. The issue with this is that you end up doing the job yourself without being paid. Whenever you buy a ticket through any of the above means, you are working for the club without knowing it. It is true that McDonaldization has increased efficiency but it is also true that the organizations involved have used these methods of increased efficiency for their own good and not necessary for the interest of the customers. The computers and machines have replaced human labor and the level of human interaction is reduced. With this, the customers are being trained to be better workers of the McDonaldized society.

Calculability means that the objective should be quantifiable rather than being subjective. Emphasis is put on the quantative assessment of inputs and outcomes. A McDonaldized system holds the belief that quantity equals quality and that large quantities of products delivered in the shortest time to the customer equals to high quality product. This leads to people quantifying how much they are getting to how much they are paying. The McDonaldized organizations want the customers to believe that they are using less money to get a large quantity of the product. Those workers working in these organizations are usually judged by how fast they are working instead of the quality of work they are delivering. This leads to an erroneous judgement that more is better. A good example in the sporting arena is in football where Adidas produces more boots and focuses on the stars who wear them e.g. they will show David Beckham kicking a free kick and this impacts on the customers that this boot will achieve the same. It does not focus on the quality of the boot unlike Umbro which produces boots on a smaller scale but focuses on the quality.

Predictability- This means that one is bound and should expect to receive the same treatment no matter where one goes. The product of the McDonaldized organization will also be the same. The tasks of the workers in those organizations are predictable in that they are highly repetitive. The McDonaldized organization emphasizes discipline, systemization, consistency, routine and a methodical operation. The customers and the people in such an organization prefer to know what they expect most of the time. The customer does not want or expect any surprises. In a sporting set up, the athletes and the sportsmen uses a press conference to say what the people wants to hear and as long as he does this, it will be fine. They say that they are very committed to the team, are going to give all their best and that they will work as a team. This is what the public wants to hear and not otherwise. What if the sportsman said the truth that is in the heart That he is less concerned doesnt care about the team and that he did not care about winning There would be a public outcry and rage because this is not what the public expected. The customers of a McDonaldized organization want to know that the burger they eat at one McDonald restaurant will be the same in the next. The spectators of a match on the other hand do not want to hear their team loosing but want to win and then listen to a predictable press conference after the match. A predictable world can become boring and sterile.

Control-This is achieved through replacement of humans with non-human technologies. This is done because people are the greatest source of uncertainty, unpredictability and inefficiency. The employers are able to maintain a tight control over the entire rationalized process by making their employees do repetitive tasks and preventing them from thinking. Through this the employers are able to control the uncertainties created by the employees and the customers. Football clubs are able to control their employees and customers by replacing the human labor with technology. The existing employees can now be well controlled with technology. When a sports good goes out of stock, the sales department is informed through the existing technology like e-mail or through the phone. By doing this, the manual process that was involved is eliminated. Also checks and data analysis in a sports arena are carried out using machines. This is due to the fact that if human beings were entrusted, it could lead to misjudgment, mistakes and errors.

Conclusion
McDonaldization has yielded some benefits to the society but it involves some risks and costs in return. There are some positive elements that McDonaldization has brought to the sporting scenes. Clubs like Manchester United and New York Yankees have franchises all over the world. These are produced on a large scale and hence reduced costs of the same. Consumers have a greater chance of watching sports from all over the world due to availability of pay TV a factor which has been brought about by McDonaldization. . Though this is meant to make profits by the organizations involved, it is a benefit to the customers who do not have to go to a stadium to watch a match. Through McDonaldization, sports have become a worldwide affair and there is large scale production of franchises which has led to reduced costs of the same.