Division
of Labor:
Meaning and Definition:
"By
division of labor is meant the specialization, of
work. It refers to splitting up of a task into a number of
processes and sub-processes and carrying it out by a person or a
group of persons who are best fitted for it".
Definition by Adam Smith:
"The division of labor by
reducing every man business to some one simple operation and by
making this operation the sole employment of his life
necessarily increases very much the dexterity of the worker".
Division
of labor may be simple, complex, or territorial. When different
groups of people specialize in different kinds of works, the
division is said to be simple. For example, one man specializes
in weaving doth, the other in making shoes, still another in
making implements for the agriculturist, etc.
Types and Examples:
Two types
are given below:
(1) Complex Division
of Labor:
When a particular work is split up into
different
processes and sub-processes and each process is carried out by a
single person or a group of persons, the division of labor is
said to be complex. For example, in a needle manufacturing
industry, no one specializes in the making of a whole pin. The
work is split up into different processes and each worker is
assigned a definite part in the whole work.
(2) Territorial
Division of Labor:
When a certain locality specializes in
the
production of a particular commodity, the division of labor is
said to be territorial. For instance, Pakistan has specialized
in the' manufacturing of sports goods, Bangladesh in the
production of Jute goods etc.
Advantages/Merits:
The
system of division of labor has proved very beneficial to
society. The main benefits arising out of division of labor are
briefly discussed as below:
(i)
Increase in
Productivity.
Division of labor helps in bringing about a
vast increase in productivity. This fact can be better explained
if we quote what Samuelson has said about it:
"Ten
persons, however, were found to manufacture among them 48
thousand pins in a day or 4,800 pins per head per day.
Individually and acting separately one man could scarcely have
manufactured 20, and may not perhaps even more than on a day.
The efficiency was due, of course, in consequence of a division
and combination of different "operation".
(ii)
Increase in
Dexterity and Skill.
Division of labor increases dexterity
and skill
of the workers. When a person continuously works at one task for
a longer time, he becomes expert of that task. Quoting from
Adam smith's Wealth of Nation:
"The division of labor by
reducing every man business to some one simple operation and by
making this operation the sole employment of his life
necessarily increases very much the dexterity of the worker".
(iii)
Division of Labor
stimulates Inventions.
When a man is doing the
same job
over and over again, he always keeps in mind as to how the work
can be made easier. He sometimes succeeds in inventing easier
methods of production.
(iv)
Diversity of
Employment.
Division of labor splits up one work into
many
parts. With the division of work, the range of occupation
increases. This gives opportunity to all types of workers such
as young man, women, aged people, children, crippled persons,
etc., to get employment.
(v)
Economy in the use
of Machinery and Tools.
When division of labor
is
introduced in a certain work, there is a continuous use of
machinery and tools and they do not remain ideal. For instance
if a worker is assigned the job of sewing shirts, he will be all
the time in need of sewing machine and not complete set of
implements needed for sewing the clothes.
(vi)
Saving in Time and
Efforts.
If a worker has to learn all the processes of
producing a commodity, then the period of apprenticeship will be
fairly long. In case, the work is split up into small processes,
the task can be specialized in a short period and there can be
much economy in time and efforts.
(vii)
Large Scale
Production at Cheaper Cost.
Another advantage claimed
by
division of labor is that it makes possible larger production at
lesser cost.
(viii)
Right man for the
Right Job.
Division of labor helps in bringing about
the right
man in the right place. When there are too many jobs, every man
tries to get himself absorbed in a work, where he thinks himself
to be best fitted. Thus, the chances of putting, square pegs in
round holes are minimized.
(ix)
Increased in the
use of Machinery.
As the work is split up into a
number of
processes, each process of production becomes so simple and easy
that it can be easily taken over by machines invented for that
particular process. It is in this way, we say, that division of
labor leads to extensive use of machinery.
Disadvantages/Demerits:
Division
of labor is not an unmixed blessing. It gives rise to certain
disadvantages also. They are briefly discussed below:
(i)
Repetition Increases Monotony.
When a worker has to perform the
same work
over and over again, it creates sense of boredom in him. His
individual incentive is curbed. It is in fact, a poor record of
a man's whole life never to have made more than 18th part of a
pin.
(ii)
Loss of
Responsibility. Where a particular
commodity is the Joint
product
of a number of workers who are generally unknown to each other,
they do not feel responsibility of their work. Moreover, the
workers do not feel pleasure and pride in it. The creative
instinct of the workers thus slackens.
(iii)
Risk of
Unemployment.
If a person specializes in a part of the job and
totally depends upon it, then he can always be in danger of
unemployment.
(iv)
Evils of Factory
System.
There is no doubt that division of labor
involves
production on a large scale but the other side of the picture is
that it brings over crowdedness, slums, immorality, loss of
individual freedom, strained relations of the employer and the
employees, etc., along with it. These we all name as the evils
of factory system.
(v)
Disruption of
Family Life. Another evil which is associated with
division
of labor is that it bring disruption,
in family life. As division of labor provides opportunities for
employment to women and children, so, it results in the break up
of the family life.
Conclusion:
If we
carefully weigh the disadvantages associated with division of
labor against its manifold advantages, we will easily find that
the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages. Most of the
disadvantages can be removed and minimized as they are actually
removed and mitigated in advanced countries.
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