The Division of Labor
Written by Studio AM.
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One way to increase production is the division of labor. When a complex job is broken into small steps, and each worker performs just one of them, the total output can rise far beyond what the same people would manage each working alone.
Adam Smith's classic illustration concerns the making of pins. One person working from start to finish might complete only a handful in a day. In the workshop Smith described, workers divided tasks such as drawing the wire, cutting it, sharpening the point and attaching the head. Together they produced thousands of pins a day. The example combined divided tasks, practiced workers and appropriate equipment.
The gains come from several sources. A worker repeating one task can become quicker and more skilled at it. Less time may be lost switching between tools and motions. And once a task is narrow and well defined, it becomes easier to see how a machine might do it, which is how specialization quietly prepares the ground for automation.
There can also be a cost to the worker. A person who performs one tiny motion all day may learn it perfectly while understanding the whole less and less. The division of labor multiplies what a society can make, but it can also narrow the work of the individual leaving fewer opportunities to learn other parts of the process.
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Questions
Choose an answer. The explanation appears after you answer.
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Question 1 of 4
What is the passage mainly about?
The answer is A: Specialization raises output but can narrow workers' experience.
Specialization 'multiplies what a society can make,' but 'can also narrow the work of the individual.'
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Question 2 of 4
In Smith's workshop example, how many pins could the group produce in a day?
The answer is B: Thousands of pins
The passage says that together the workers produced thousands of pins a day.
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Question 3 of 4
The passage suggests that narrow, well-defined tasks:
The answer is A: Are easier to hand over to a machine.
A narrow task makes it 'easier to see how a machine might do it,' preparing the ground for automation.
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Question 4 of 4
What does 'output' mean in this passage?
The answer is A: the amount produced
'Output' is what gets made - here, the number of pins produced.
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