1. Raw materials are the most important factor of production.

2. The land factor includes all the raw materials that come from the land and the sea.

3. The most important thing about the labour factor is the size of the labour force.

4. In modern economies, more labour is used than capital.

5. Net investment allows companies to increase their production.

6. Entrepreneurs are part of the labour factor.

Division of labour

Without the factors of production, companies cannot get started. To be successful, however, they need to make good use of those resources. To make best use of labour, you need to organise it. The division of labour is one way to achieve this.

Let's take making shirts as an example. What do you need to do to make a shirt? You need to design it, find the right material, cut the material, sew the pieces together, dye the shirt and sew on the buttons. One person working on their own could probably do all these tasks. This is one way to organise labour. Another way is for a number of workers to share the job. Each worker is responsible for one task in the process. This is an example of the division of labour.

The division of labour isn't a new idea. Even very early societies had some form of labour specialisation. For example, in some societies men were hunters and gatherers of food, while women were responsible for child rearing. However, as societies became industrialised, the division of labour increased. Factories became the main means of production, and each factory worker became responsible for smaller and smaller stages in the process.

As each worker gets more and more experience at doing their particular task, they get better and better at it. This should improve the quality of their work. With smaller tasks to do, workers can do things automatically, without thinking about them. This will speed up their productivity, and speed up the whole production process. Finally, small tasks are easier to learn. As the division of labour increases, the amount of time needed to train each worker decreases. All of this means a more efficient and productive workforce ... at least, in theory.

There is, however, a human factor to consider. Workers are not machines. Their physical and emotional health has an impact on their productivity. Repeating the same simple task over and over again is very boring. Bored workers can't concentrate easily, and their mistakes will reduce the quality of their output. In addition, there is the problem of ownership. Many workers take pride in their work. They don't just work for wages, but also because they get satisfaction from doing a good job or from creating something useful or beautiful. If you only add buttons to a shirt, you don't feel that the shirt is your work. You can't take pride in a job that does not need skill to do. In this situation, workers become careless and their work becomes sloppy. Overall, this has a negative impact on productivity.

Thankfully, robots and machines can now do many of the mindless tasks that factory workers used to do. Nevertheless, the theory of the division of labour is still fundamental to all modern economies.

Переведите на английский язык:

1.    Для производства товаров необходимы факторы производства, которыми являются земля, труд и капитал.

2.    Земля как фактор производства включает в себя всё, что даёт природа и может быть использовано для производства.

3.    Образованная, квалифицированная и здоровая рабочая сила имеет большую производительность, поэтому важную роль в экономике играют образование и здравоохранение.

4.    Капитал — это заводы, склады, оборудование, инструменты, компьютеры, т. е. всё, что используется в производственном процессе.

5.    В настоящее время промышленность становится более капиталоёмкой и менее трудоёмкой.

6.    Разделение труда и специализация делают процесс производства более эффективным и продуктивным.

7.    Рабочие выполняют операции автоматически, не задумываясь, что повышает производительность труда и улучшает качество их работы.

Division of labour

1. Complete each sentence with a word or phrase from the box.

automatically         child rearing dye

emotional   fundamental means

mindless     sew  sloppy

specialisation         take pride in

1. … of transport are the methods we use to get from one place to another.

2. … work is work that is not very good quality.

3. To make clothes you have to know how to … the material together.

4. Having a … means that you deal with one particular area of any field.

5. You may visit a doctor if you have problems with your … health.

6. Competition is … to the idea of the free market.

7. People who … their work do it very carefully and enjoy the results.

8. Mothers and fathers both have important roles to play in … .

9. Some people regard factory work as a …        job but it isn't necessarily boring.

10. When you do something … you do it without thinking.

11. When manufacturers … clothes, they add colour.