McDonaldization

McDonaldization is a McWord. The McWord concept was first proposed by sociologist George Ritzer in his 1983 article in the Journal of American Culture and developed in his 1993 book The McDonaldization of Society. McDonaldization is a reconceptualization of rationalization and scientific management. Where Max Weber used the model of the bureaucracy to represent the direction of this changing society, Ritzer sees the fast-food restaurant as a more representative contemporary paradigm. Critiques of the McDonaldization thesis include Ahuvia and Izberk-Bilgi’s analysis of a countertrend they call eBayization, and Alexander’s argument that McDonaldization is a paralysing concept and ignores more person-centred models such as cooperatives or the Toyota Production System.