Consumption Efficience

Chapter 3: Efficiency

The McDonaldization of Society Chapter 3: Efficiency

Chapter One Objectives

1. To better understand what is meant by efficiency in relation to McDonaldization

2. To explore some of the advantages and disadvantages related to efficiency

3. To explore how various aspects of our daily lives have become increasingly efficient


Efficiency is…•The optimum method for getting from one point to another•Behind just-in-time production, faster service, and streamlined operations•Advantageous to:

• Consumers – can get what they need more quickly and with less effort

• Workers – can perform their tasks more rapidly and easily

• Managers and owners – more work gets done, more customers are served, and greater profits are earned


Speeding the Way from Secretion to Excretion

• Menu items are prepared in an assembly line fashion

• Parking spaces are readily available adjacent to restaurants

• Limited menu makes diner’s choice easy• Unwelcoming environments give diners little

reason to linger• Drive-through windows• Accepting debit and credit cards


Eating more efficiently…

• TV dinners• Microwavable meals• Prepackaged mixes• Meals in a box• Fully cooked meals at the supermarket• Takeout meals• And after you eat it all, even dieting systems

have become prepackaged


Shopping more efficiently…

• Department stores that offer a variety of products in one place

• Malls that offer a variety of stores in one place

• 7-11 and other drive-up and drive-through mini-markets

• Catalogues• Cybershopping on the internet• And can pay for it all with a McDonaldized

credit card!


Getting an education more efficiently…

• McUniversity• Machine-graded, multiple choice exams• Manuals of ready-made tests and essay

questions• Purchasing lecture notes and already

completed term papers


Being entertained more efficiently…

• DVD rentals instead of going to a theater• Netflix delivering DVD’s right to your mailbox• Video-on-demand systems• TIVO• Audiobooks• Moving people efficiently through amusement

parks, malls, and airports


Interacting more efficiently…

• Using internet dating sites to find a mate• The profile options on such sites with check

boxes for things such as “liberal”, “white”, or “sporty”

• Religion streamlined though televised religious programs and “how-to” books for achieving spiritual enlightenment

• Text messaging and the emergence of even shorter ways of expressing yourself – i.e. CU L8R, :-), and LOL


Simplifying the Product

• Finger foods that can be eaten without utensils

• Limiting menu items and offering standardized products which are not customizable

• Specialization on a single product or service such as AAMCO Transmissions, Midas Muffler, and H&R Block

• USA TODAY’s “News McNuggets”


Putting Customers to Work

• Using customers who are unpaid to do the work previously performed by paid employees such as bussing tables, getting their drinks, bagging their groceries, or the use of salad bars and fixin’ bars

• Self scanning checkout at the grocery store, IKEA, Wal-Mart, and others

• Filling your own gas tank• ATM machines to do your own banking

Technology

Consumption Efficience