MacDonalidisation: Braverman, Taylor & Mayo

Background:
George Ritzer defined McDonaldization as "...the process by which the principles of the fast-food restaurants are coming to dominate more and more sectors of American society as well as the rest of the world."

For our purposes, MacDonaldisation is a process of rationalisation that results in an efficient, logical sequence of methods that can be used to complete a given task in a controlled way.

Frederick Winslow Taylor:
Approach to organisational efficiency "scientific management". He developed a theory of organisation which altered the personalised autocracy of work under which human beings were treated like machines and assumes the specialization of work, and:

Protestant work ethic, that assumes people will work hard and behave rationally to maximize their own income

Workers would neutrally tend to work no harder then necessary given the chance to do so, and believed in control of those tendency through management. The method system was concerned with control; but was too rational ie there was no place in it for workers as human beings

Taylor was driven by the promise of direct financial benefit resulting from there studies of social science and research.

It was Henry Ford was that first applied Taylor's theories to mercenary in the form of an assembly line for improving the production of automobiles, which perhaps more importantly, removed the ability of the worker to dictate the pace of work by sampling each task and giving all procedure that might free workers from dehumanizing and alienating labor that is better done by machines and automation

Harry Braverman:
Whom defined management as "a labor process conducted for the purpose of control within the corporation" (Braverman, 1974: 267. McDonaldization also points to other factors as being central to the control of employees.

Argues that rationalization of labor will serve to deskill labor and oppress the work force and that it eventually would creep up from the loest levels of work into the middle layers.

Elton Mayo:
Was primarily interested in the research an a sociologist and recognised the fact that workers have an intimate knowledge of job conditions and are therefore able to make useful contributions

The human relations approach to work design were stall profit motivated, and dynamics of economic exploitation remain.

He believed that formal and in formal group interactions are of fundamental importance when trying to understand of human behaviours in the work place, these "unions"were removed and replaced with isolation on the production line.

Conclusions:
The desired outcome from McDonaldization is a controlled process with a predictable, consistent, measurable and infinitely repeatable output. Taylor had nothing against any of these objectives.

Mayo, being unconcerned with Taylors profit motives had no feeling ether way and was just in it for the academic value.

However, Braverman was opposed to the dehumanising and damaging concepts unbodied with in the culmination of McDonaldization when expanded to include all aspects of work then society

The result is the fact that to be productive an employees dose not need wide-ranging skill sets and are controlled in many of the ways explored by Marx and Braverman,.

An example of efficiently could be the inconveniences of some ATM transactions (bad thing) In general, the ruthless efficiently of the production line style process can only have a primarily negative and harmful effect on a society, as institutions come to be dominated by the same principle.

The General Consequences:

Deskilling:
The resulting level of abilities needed to complete the simple focused tasks created after a job has been broken down into tasks of the smallest possible degree.

Irrationality:
An unintended detrimental side effect of a rationalised process. An example of this could be worker burnout.

Mindlessness:
The body cannot live without an active mind. Eventually, we learn to stop looking for alternatives and the mind will grow dim.

Consumer Workers:
An insidious phenomenon of McDonaldisation and its ruthless efficiency, where work traditionally performed by the company is unwittingly done by the consumer for free.

I am the website administrator of the Wandle industrial museum (http://www.wandle.org). Established in 1983 by local people determined to ensure that the history of the valley was no longer neglected but enhanced awareness its heritage for the use and benefits of the community.

---

Laws and Ethics?. Who?s Kidding Who?

Years ago I read an article by a renowned psychologist... Read More

Top 10 Principles for Positive Business Ethics

This morning, I read about a company using on-line auctions... Read More

What is a Ponzi Scheme?

This is for those who don't believe me when I... Read More

Minding Your Global Manners

To say that today's business environment is becoming increasingly more... Read More

Business Ethics

There is much talk today about ethics in business -... Read More

MacDonalidisation: Braverman, Taylor & Mayo

Background: George Ritzer defined McDonaldization as "...the process by which... Read More

Vice of Buggery at FTC

At the Federal Trade Commission we have seen attorneys who... Read More

Business Ethics: An Oxymoron

An oxymoron: the juxtaposition of contradictory words or concepts. That... Read More

Six Reasons to Give

If you run a business, you undoubtedly feel many pressures... Read More

Ethics? How To Take the Measure Business

When asked to write a small piece pertaining to ethics... Read More

The Views of Karl Marx VS Max Weber

Compare and contrast the views of Karl Marx and Max... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Diversity And Success, In The Workplace

This article relates to the Diversity in the Workplace Competency,... Read More

Mind Your Own Damn Business Sexcess

You have certainly heard the expression "mind your own damn... Read More

Is Your Management Style Lead By Intimidation?

So many women make the mistake of thinking that they... Read More

Ethics In The Workplace

Workplace Ethics is a subject that we have all heard... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Shifting Culture and Climate in Todays Corporate World

This articles relates to the EngagedMetrics core competency Culture and... Read More

How To Build A Business Ethics Program

Recent corporate financial scandals have highlighted the importance of business... Read More

The Only Thing You Get for Free in Life is Hungry!

My grandfather was a very wise man. Simple but wise.... Read More

Brain Development and Due Process

DUE PROCESSAfricans, especially Nigerians are stereotyped on the internet and... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Work Ethics and the Customer

This article relates to the Ethics in the Workplace competency,... Read More

Ethics in Business - Please Have Some

Is your business ethical?What I mean is "Does your business... Read More

Do Organizations Serve Us Or Do We Serve Organizations

We have seen an erosion in the confidence that society... Read More

Diversity

I know that diversity has been a big topic of... Read More

The Everyday Business Ethics Crisis Or Im Mad as Hell and Not Going to Take it Anymore

Breaking news may feature the Enron debacle, WorldCom activities, or... Read More

The Social Implications of Computing

Directed by Mark Harrison, "Visions of Heaven and Hell" is... Read More

Selling Truth as a Differentiator

The last few years have been a period of heightened... Read More

Business Ethics: An Oxymoron?

Why do I believe good PR and business ethics are... Read More

Better Business Boundaries

To get a new client, we might be inclined to... Read More

Conflict: Not Necessarily a Bad Thing

I got yelled at tonight. Not the type of yelling... Read More

The Collapse of Enron: Managerial Aspects

Executive summaryIts revenues made up US $139($184) billion, assets equaled... Read More

Business Ethics: The Law of Corporate Karma

According to the shamanic traditions, the great mystery of being... Read More

Business Ethics: How The Sales Function Can Transmit Company Values

I recently got a "thank-you" call from a man who... Read More

Work Ethics ? A Paradigm Shift

Work ethics is a hot topic in today's business and... Read More