Specialization and division of labour

1. Specialization can be
done through a number
of ways that include the
following:

2.  Individuals can be experts in their area of work e.g. an
accountant, a bricklayer, a doctor, a carpenter, etc.
 Region or country — a particular area can concentrate on
production of certain goods especially for export, e.g. the
Middle East produces oil and Botswana produces beef
 Industries can concentrate on production of certain
commodities such as clothing, soap, books, food, shoes etc.
 Specialisation can therefore be seen as the concentration of
production in a single task or several related tasks.

3. Advantages of division of
labour specialization
 Repetition of the same task improves expertise and
results in the worker knowing his or her job very well and
that increases productivity and output.
 Time is saved as the worker is only trained in one single
task.This makes learning easy and affordable.
 There are greater opportunities to use machinery. This
paves way for easier learning of the use of machinery
 It improves quality at very low costs.

4. Division of Labour
 Division of labour refers to the breaking down of the
production process into a number of categories so that
each person or a group of individuals performs specific
tasks.
 Sometimes in a society, division of labour may come
from both social inequalities inherited from the past and
the desire to produce more exchange.
 It can also be influenced by geographical factors and the
availability of specific resources,

5. Division labour cont.
 for example, the presence of oil allows Iran and Iraq to
specialise in oil production.
 Division of labour in industrial societies is based on
qualification and skills unlike in traditional societies where
labour was distributed according to gender.
 Division of labour can therefore be observed at several
levels of production such as the family, individual, firm,
nation and even at the international level.

6. Advantages of division of
labour and specialisation
 Repetition of the same task improves expertise and
results in the worker knowing his or her job very well and
that increases productivity and output
 Time is saved as the worker is only trained in one single
task. This makes learning easy and affordable
 There are greater opportunities to use machinery. This
paves way for easier learning of the use of machinery
 It improves quality at very low costs.

7. Disadvantages of division
of labour and
specialisation
 Division of labour and Specialisation also have their
shortcomings and they include the following:
 Specialisation tends to encourage the use of machines
rather than the use of people
 There tends to be less variety of goods due to
standardisation of products
 It results in boredom and monotony since repetition of
the same task can become boring

8. Disadvantages of division of
labour and specialisation
cont.
 Specialisation increases inter dependency in the line or chain
of production. If disruption occurs in one part of the
line, the whole system will stop working
 The excessive use of machinery in production leads to loss
of individual crafts manship. Today creativity has
declined, most items look the same even though they are
produced by different manufacturers, e.g. shoes, cars,
television sets etc.
 It increases labour immobility because when individuals
become specialised in their jobs, they become so inflexible.