Production and specialisation The changing face of economic roles

Primitive Man Self sufficient Farm, nomadic gathering, hunting, fishing Trade and barter – moneyless Independent tribes and groups Jack of all trades master of none?

How were cars made in 1910?

Industrial man Division of labour – a job is broken into simple steps – repeated or mechanised to speed them up Workforce specialisation – higher productivity and interdependence of workers, staff can be less skilled, practise makes perfect. Requires a medium of exchange – money

Specialisation Questions Why was money less important before specialisation? Name 5 key benefits of specialisation Name 3 drawbacks? How has the workplace developed since Industrialisation? Make a list of changes? IQ Which era of working would you choose for yourself? Justify your answer

Answers – mark your own Money is not needed as the number of transactions is reduced in self sufficiency these can be dealt with by barter. Increased aptitude, time is saved moving between jobs, workers work to their strengths and can use specialised equipment. Drawbacks – labour is less varied – boredom, workers are highly interdependent, increases income inequality More machinery , less workers in manufacturing, shift work and 24hr operations, change from manual to support services

Productivity of inputs Departments Output Workers Sales £170,000 pm 12 Production plant 1 £220,000pm 17 Production plant 2 £14,000 pm 4 A business can measure the productivity of any factor including labour by: Total output per time period = productivity Number of factor units

Answers Departments Output Workers Productivity Sales £170,000 pm 12 £14,166.66 per unit Production plant 1 £220,000pm 17 £12,941.18 per unit Production plant 2 £14,000 4 £3,500 per unit Which workers are most productive and why is this important?

The international picture what does it show and why might this be?