Social Science - Fast Food

General Education Capstone Course

Event/Experience Details and Guideline Form

Gen. Ed. category event should be listed under:  Social Sciences

SCC competency addressed by event:  Explain social institutions, structure, and processes across a range of historical periods, places and/or cultures.

Event experience title: The Positive and Negative Effects of Bureaucracies

Anticipated learning outcome: Upon successful completion of the project the student will be in a better position to analyze and interpret bureaucratic organization as it affects, in both positive and negative ways, human goals directed behavior. The student will be more aware of ways in which bureaucratic organization and structure affects human relationships and the quality of life in society.

Guidelines or rubric for accomplishment of event

The student will draw upon previous workings experience or will participate for a half day in one of those epitomes of bureaucracy, a McDonald’s or other similar fast food restaurant. This will be a project of participant observation. The student will draw upon his or her experience or be involved in a working environment by interacting with staff and management in order to gather information about the structure, rules, and job descriptions of a fast food restaurant. The student will then make a detailed journal entry in the form of a little ethnography that would be both descriptive and evaluative – somewhat in the spirit of what Clifford Geertz calls a thick description. In other words, the student will analyze and interpret the bureaucratic organization as it affects work behavior and the achievement of an organization’s stated and implied goals.

Drawing on George Ritzer’s idea of the McDonaldization of society, and using a McDonald’s or other similar fast food restaurant as metaphor, the student will list examples of the various ways such bureaucratic organization and structure impact society as a whole.

In writing his/her essay, the student should pay attention to the following:

1. Describe the division of labor in the fast food restaurant you have chosen to observe.
   
   
2. How are the various jobs arranged from higher to lower? For example, who has the most power, i.e., decision-making authority?
   
   
3. Does the restaurant have a set of rules and job descriptions that workers are required to observe?
   
   
4. From your own observations, describe the ways in which the division of labor, rules, and job descriptions may limit creative and innovative behavior on the part of workers.
   
   
5. Drawing on your observations and interactions with members of the staff, describe the effects the restaurant’s bureaucratic organization and structure have on interpersonal relations and general social behavior on the job.
   
   
6. Does the staff engage in any activity that could be interpreted as a way of relieving stress caused by the highly organized and structured environment of the restaurant?
   
   
7. Has your experience as a participant observer at a fast-food restaurant helped you to better understand the various ways in which bureaucratic organization impacts almost all areas of society and our social experiences and relationships? Explain.

Contact name: Choose any McDonald’s or other similar fast food restaurant

Contact phone number: Check the phone book

Contact e-mail: Check the Internet for web sites

Contact Web site URL: Search Internet for web sites

SCC event creator: Bill Kristen

Estimated time for full completion: 4 hours.