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2
McDonaldization
and Its Precursors
From the Iron Cage to the Fast-Food Factory
M
cDonaldization did not emerge in a vacuum; it was preceded by a
series of social and economic developments that not only anticipated
it but also gave it many of the basic characteristics touched on in Chapter 1.
1
In this chapter, I will look briefly at a few of these developments. First, I will
examine the notion of bureaucracy and Max Weber’s theories about it and
the larger process of rationalization. Next, I will offer a discussion of the
Nazi Holocaust, a method of mass killing that can be viewed as the logical
extreme of Weber’s fears about rationalization and bureaucratization. Then,
I will look at several intertwined socioeconomic developments that were
precursors of McDonaldization: scientific management as it was invented
at the turn of the century by F. W. Taylor, Henry Ford’s assembly line, the
mass-produced suburban houses of Levittown, the shopping mall, and Ray
Kroc’s creation of the McDonald’s chain. These are not only of historical
interest; most continue to be important to this day.
♦
BUREAUCRATIZATION:
MAKING LIFE MORE RATIONAL
A bureaucracy is a large-scale organization composed of a hierarchy of
offices. In these offices, people have certain responsibilities and must act
♦
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in accord with rules, written regulations, and means of compulsion
exercised by those who occupy higher-level positions.
The bureaucracy is largely a creation of the modern Western world.
Although earlier societies had organizational structures, they were not
nearly as effective as the bureaucracy. For example, in traditional societies,
officials performed their tasks because of a personal loyalty to their leader.
These officials were subject to personal whim rather than impersonal rules.
Their offices lacked clearly defined spheres of competence, there was no
clear hierarchy of positions, and officials did not have to obtain technical
training to gain a position.
Ultimately, the bureaucracy differs from earlier methods of organizing
work because of its formal structure, which, among other things, allows
for greater efficiency. Institutionalized rules and regulations lead, even
force, those employed in the bureaucracy to choose the best means to
arrive at their ends. A given task is broken down into components, with
each office responsible for a distinct portion of the larger task. Incumbents
of each office handle their part of the task, usually following preset rules
and regulations, and often in a predetermined sequence. When each of the
incumbents has, in order, handled the required part, the task is com-
pleted. In handling the task in this way, the bureaucracy has used what its
past history has shown to be the optimum means to the desired end.