AMERICANIZATION AND GLOBALISATION The Increasing Role of American Multinationals Around the Globe
Every day, satellites are launched, fibre-optic cables are connected, a few households buy televisions or newspaper subscriptions and consequently, individuals around the world have become largely interconnected. ... Although the process of globalising culture and consumption has been led by American companies, it demonstrates a tendency toward homogenisation that is sought by most major companies everywhere. McDonaldization metonymically describes a process that brings about—and is brought about by—globalisation. Though the spread of American products may reflect the spread of American ideals, other countries spread similar products and proliferate similar ideals. ... McDonaldization means that the goods sold by McDonaldized companies are cheaply and easily made, and cheaply and easily sold, at a quality that is uniform from store to store around the globe (Ritzer, 2000). ... This expansion is often met, but overpowers, opposition around the globe, as was seen in Bray (Breathnach, 1996). A distinction, however, must be drawn between McDonaldization, Americanization and globalisation. McDonaldization has already been defined; globalisation marks the growing interconnectedness of people and companies in the world (Heywood, 2002). Americanization is quite different: the term has come from meaning the imposition of American values and attitudes on immigrants to America in the early 20th century. Now Americanization holds the same meaning, but it is directed to other countries’ nationals. Transnational corporations based in American, such as McDonald’s, spread everywhere in search for profitability. Meanwhile, some of them export their products as part of American culture. ... On the other hand, many non-American companies practice in this manner. ... Ritzer asserted that, “Of course, technological change has probably played the greatest role in the success of the McDonaldized systems. ... The early examples of McDonaldization were American companies who sought to expand production vastly in order to garner colossal profits. In a way, anyone who can build a McDonaldized company, thus forever expanding it and growing increasingly wealthy, would be fulfilling ‘the American Dream.’ On the other hand, efficiency, calculability, predictability and control are not exclusively American production ideals; Japanese electronics and car production is highly efficient and companies such as Sony, Toshiba, Motarola and Honda exhibit the traits of McDonaldization. “It is the pressure to expand globally that makes for the over-concentration of McDonaldized systems around the world…[and] the fact that people have come to value McDonaldization in itself” (Ritzer 1999, p. ... This astute comment demonstrates the extent to which McDonaldized systems have taken over in the American food-production market.