Why is Smith's work on the division of labour still of interest after Assignment

Why is Smith's work on the division of labour still of interest after almost 250 years - Assignment Example The notion of division of labour is associated with the cooperative structure of supplying labour services to perform that task. Division of labour has been applied by producers of all goods and services and after the introduction of industrialisation this concept has been widely used by these producers (Brown and Rose, 2010, p.34). This research attempts to describe the notion of division of labour which was marked by Adam Smith and also describes the reasons of application of Smith’s idea of division of labour in the modern times. An effort is made to critically analyze the reasons behind importance of the concept of division of labour even after 250 years of its introduction in economic theories. Smith’s notion of Division of Labour: Adam Smith has argued that in the face of industrialisation and growing demand for various goods and services, it is most necessary for producers to apply the notion of division of labour into the production processes. The application of division of labour into production processes will not only increase the amount of output produced, but also will increase the quality of produced output. Adam Smith has opined in his book, The Wealth of Nations, that applying division of labour helps the producer by splitting up the entire production process in smaller divisions and by applying labour service to each division of the complete production process (Smith, 1776, pp.10-12). According to Adam Smith, using division of labour in the production process will also help labourers to efficiently perform a single tack and to achieve the level of expertise in the production of the part of the entire production process which is assigned to one labourer at a time. These developments in the process of production of the good help labourers to increase the volume of production and also help to augment the quality of production of that good. Adam Smith has also argued that the difference between a steel doorkeeper and a philosopher is a consequence of division of labour. A steel doorkeeper can apply the concept of division of labour by engaging others (mainly his family members) and increase the productivity, as well the quality of production of the service. A philosopher cannot divide his thinking process with the help of the notion of division of labour (Smith, 1776, pp.12-17). Adam Smith has opined that the introduction of division of labour in the production processes will help labourers to match their skills with the equipments available to them for producing different goods and services. He himself gave an example of pin production. In the production of a pin, one person produces the head and another person produces the body. Both these labourers are using the best (most efficient) available and different types of technology to produce either the head or the body of the pin. In this way the total volume of production can be increased along with the quality of production. However, Adam Smith also criticised t he application of