division of labour

(noun)

The separation of work into different categories or tasks; each category or task being carried out by different groups of workers.

Related Terms

Examples of division of labour in the following topics:

  • Social Interaction

    • The division of labour is another form of social interaction that allowsindividuals to do what the isolated person cannot.
    • In the division of labour, the production of a good is broken down into individual steps.
    • The division of labour is the process of dividing a task (work) into its component parts.
    • Smith cautions about the effects of unrestrained use of the division of labour,
    • Once humans use the division of labour and specialization, it is necessary for them to coordinate their efforts.

  • Specialization by Skillset

    • Division of labor is the specialization of cooperative labor in specific, circumscribed tasks and like roles.
    • Historically, an increasingly complex division of labour is closely associated with the growth of total output and trade, the rise of capitalism, and of the complexity of industrialization processes.
    • Division of labor was also a method used by the Sumerians to categorize different jobs and divide them to skilled members of a society.
    • Employees within the functional divisions of an organization tend to perform a specialized set of tasks, for instance, the engineering department would be staffed only with software engineers.
    • For instance, a small business could make components used in production of its products instead of buying them.

  • Durkheim's Mechanical and Organic Solidarity

    • As part of his theory of the development of societies in, The Division of Labour in Society (1893), sociologist Emile Durkheim characterized two categories of societal solidarity: organic and mechanical.
    • In a society exhibiting mechanical solidarity, its cohesion and integration comes from the homogeneity of individuals.
    • "Organic" refers to the interdependence of the component parts.
    • The two types of solidarity can be distinguished by formal and demographic features, type of norms in existence, and the intensity and content of the conscience collective.
    • Durkheim formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.

  • Alternative Philosophies

    • A high degree of specialization and its complementary division of labor can make whole classes of workers economically vulnerable in times of recession or as the industries they work in evolve, requiring different skills as the modes of production change.
    • A high degree of specialization and it's complimentary division of labour can make whole classes of workers economically vulnerable in times of recession or as the industries they work in evolve, requiring different skills as the modes of production.
    • Many scholars, such as Thoreau, Emerson, and Marx thought that specialization and the division of labor alienated workers from themselves.
    • Thoreau believed that the division of labor removes people from a sense of connectedness from both society and nature.
    • Some motivational theories suggest that the boredom and alienation caused by the division of labour can actually cause efficiency to fall.

  • History

    • It is the realized economic system of a country or other area.
    • It includes the production, exchange, distribution, and consumption of goods and services of that area.
    • For most people the exchange of goods occurred through social relationships.
    • He defined the elements of a national economy: products are offered at a natural price generated by the use of competition - supply and demand - and the division of labour.
    • The period today is called the industrial revolution because the system of production and division of labour enabled the mass production of goods.

  • Production and Cost in the Long-run

    • If TC1 were $200 and the price of labour were $5 the L-intercept (L*) would be 40 units of labour, i.e. 40 units of labour at $5 each will cost $200.
    • The lowest cost of producing Q2 given the price of labour and capital is at point A.
    • This range is sometimes referred to as "economies of scale. " Generally it happens from specialization and/or division of labour.
    • Q is output or quantity, L is quantity of labour and K is the quantity of capital.
    • This tends to be the result of specialization and division of labour.

  • Market for Inputs

    • The market equilibrium occurs at point G where the quantity of labour offered for sale is equal to the quantity of labour that is demanded at a the wage rate WR.
    • J units of labour are hired.
    • An increase in the productivity of labour or the price of the good produced (PX) will increase the demand (MRP).
    • The level of employment would fall to F units of labour.
    • If the MRP increased so the wage rate exceeded WH, workers would supply a smaller quantity of labour in a given period of time.

  • Supply of Inputs

    • A worker must decide how many units of labour (hours, days, weeks, years, etc) they will offer for sale at each possible wage rate.
    • The supply of labour is a function of the wage rate, the value of leisure, alternatives available, taxes and other circumstances.
    • Owners of other factors of production (land, capital, entrepreneurial ability) make decisions that determine the supply functions of those factors.
    • The maximum labour that will be offered for sale is at point B.
    • Another possibility is a supply of labour that is represented by segment WRGB.

  • The Demand for Inputs

    • In this example the marginal product of labour (MPL) declines from the first unit.
    • The first unit of labour "produces " 8 units of output (MPL = 8).
    • The maximum that an employer would be willing to pay the first unit of labour would be $88.
    • Notice that if 35 units could be sold, 7 units of labour would be hired.
    • The maximum the employer would be willing to pay the 7th unit of labour is $22.

  • Graphical Representations of Production and Cost Relationships

    • In the range from 0 to LA amount of labour, the output increases from 0 to QA.
    • The MPL is increasing as additional units of labour are added.
    • Since the VC (total variable cost) is the price of labour times the quantity of labour used (LPL), VC will increase at a decreasing rate.
    • In the range from LA to LB amount of labour the output rises from QA to QB, TP increases at a decreasing rate (MP will be decreasing in this range.).
    • At the maximum of TP (LB amount of labour, output QB) at point B, the VC function will "turn back" and as output decreases the VC will continue to rise.