Fast Food, Fast Talk: Service Work and the Routinization of Everyday Life

Leidner (sociology, Univ. of Pennsylvania) uses participant observation to explore aspects of service-industry efforts to insure sameness of effort and routinization of work. The author chooses for examples the ubiquitous McDonald's and the Combined Insurance Company, whose founder, W. Clement Stone, formulated the Positive Mental Attitude (PMA). Both companies achieve service provider-service recipient relationships that are routinized yet acceptable both to the customer and employee. The much-touted 'worker rebellions' are largely nonexistent; many if not most employees prefer a well-choreographed approach to the point of sale. Leidner's book includes much of interest to students of business and human behavior, but her turgid prose does not lend itself to easy reading. For academic libraries.- Norman Lederer, Thad deus Stevens State Sch. of Technology, Lancaster, Pa.Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.