Specialisation and Division of Labour

Specialisation:

The division of a work process into seperate job functions so that individuals can develop expertise by specialising.

- The UK specialise in banks currently

- The UK used to specialise in hoisery

Division of Labour:

Breaking a job down into small, repetitive fragments, each of which can be done at speed by workers with little formal training.

Advantages

• Concrete on producing goods and services in which you have a comparative advantage
• Become more skilled in particular fields
• Able to produce more efficiently
• Supporting industries develop

Disadvantages

• Risky (for example; Leicester suffered unemployment when the hoisery industry collapsed).
• Loss of market if someone else can produce more cheaply (for example; if two people produced wheat, person 'a' charges £50 per kg, but person 'b' charges £30 per kg - person 'a' will end up losing their market).

How specialisation affects businesses and economies

• They allow businesses to be efficient and increase production
• You can build your knowledge and skills in that one area
• Can bring money into a country

Advantages

• Workers become more skilled
• Fewer tool required
• Less training
• Less time wasted moving between jobs

Disadvantages

• Problems if machines break dowm or a worker is off sick, as others aren't trained in that area
• Boredom - slow production, obsenteeism, high labour turnover
• If machines replaces workers - limited skills may find it hard finding another job