Wealth Of Nations By Adam Smith: Division Of Labor

Division of labor occurs when the work process is separated into a various number of tasks. Each worker or group of workers then specializes in completing a single task. It is used in mass production and is considered “one of the basic organizing principles of the assembly line. (Britannica, 2014). Specialization via division of labor has helped to eliminate the need for workers to handle multiple tools and minimized unnecessary motion. Through the repetition of simple basic tasks by unskilled workers, production time and costs have been reduced. Lower production expenses lead to completed products being less expensive to purchase.
Labor division is a characteristic of capitalist society. The division of labor was viewed by Adam Smith the Scottish economist, “as a key to economic progress by providing a cheaper and more efficient means of producing goods.” (Britannica, 2014). All goods and services that are produced have a value partially based on the labor required to create them. By breaking the process down into simple, repeatable steps, manufacturing does not require highly skilled specialists. Without the division of labor, production levels would be lower and costs would be significantly higher. Increased economic efficiency is naturally created as part of Capitalism by the push for increased productivity.
In Wealth of Nations, Adam Smith described the division of labor by providing the example of the process of manufacturing pins. …show more content…
As early as middle school, labor division was in evidence. Teachers were not required or expected to be experts in all subject areas. Each subject was taught by a teacher with specialized training and knowledge of the pertinent subject matter. English teacher could expertly explain all the rules of grammar and sentence structure. But the same teacher is likely unfamiliar with the finer points of advanced mathematical