Meaning of Specialization

Specialization is the practice of concentrating on one or a few activities one is best suited to perform most of the time and leave the rest to others to do. It also means doing what one is good at and doing it better instead of trying out anything for the sake of making a living.
Division of labour on the other hand is the specialization within the production of a commodity. It means the distribution of work among associated members in such a manner that each person performs a different operation, one in which their skills are best.
Division of labour also means the separation of jobs, activities, and processes so that each person or group of persons can concentrate on one or a few tasks rather then making the complete commodity or supplying all the services by himself.
Specialization is part of almost everybody's experience. It is not only found in a modern factory but even under the most primitive conditions of human existence, there was some division of labour. The men spent most of their time hunting for food, while the women did the work at home and looked after the children.
In the modern factory as the item being manufactured passes along a production line, each worker in turn adds the parts or performs the task that are his contribution to the finished product.
In most African societies, there was specialization. Women did the work at home and looked after the children

In the office we find cleaners, office messengers, copy-typists, secretaries, accountants and managers each making his own contribution to the organisation.
Types of Specialization
The division of labour may take any of the following forms: -
Division by trade or occupation, such as fishing, farming, hunting teaching, administration, and nursing.
Division by process or subject:- Here in the same profession or occupation, the work is divided into a number of stages or subjects each being undertaken by a different set of people. In the textile industry, we find spinning, weaving, dyeing, each being performed by different people. In the medical profession, we find midwives, surgeons, physicians, dentists, and in teaching we find biology teachers, geography teachers, mathematics teachers, accounts and commerce teachers.
Regional or Territorial Specialization
This type of division of labour involves the production of different products by each region. For example, cotton is grown in Teso, Matooke is grown in Ankole, and copper is mined in Kilembe.
National Specialization
This takes us into the international field where division of labour is based on differences in soils, climates, skills and costs of production. It explains why coffee is grown in Uganda and Brazil, wool is produced in Australia and New Zealand, gold is mined in South Africa, Oil is produced in Saudi Arabia and wine in Spain. Thus the principle of specialization is applied not only to individuals but also to machines, manufacturing plants, regions as well as nations.

Advantages of specialization
The main benefits of specialization may be summarized as follows:-
By specializing, each person, firm or country concentrates on the job he or she can do best and this speeds up production.
When each person or machine performs the task at a great speed, men and machines are fully employed and output per person, machine or time period increases.
When output increases the cost of production per unit may reduce and prices may be forced down, much to the advantage of the customer.
A fall in prices may lead to an increase in demand and therefore profits.
Each work uses only one set of tools throughout, this makes possible the use of tolls and machinery more extensively and efficiently. Much money is not spent on buying various tools for each worker and time is not wasted in changing tools and equipment for different tasks.
Each worker concentrates on only one task, so he is not over-worked or strained.
Work becomes repetitive and simpler and this increase skills and the worker becomes confident.
Since each person is trained to perform only a specific task or related tasks, the training period is shorter and the training expenses are also minimized.
Some of the work may be given up by the skilled workers and this gives employment opportunities to unskilled labour.
The workers can be placed in positions most suited to their individual talents and this makes supervision easier and the producer can estimate his costs of production more accurately. Waste is reduced.


TEACHING AND LEARNING STRATEGIES
1. Group discussion about the meaning, types of Specialization and the distinction between Specialization and divisions of labour
2. A Debate on the advantages and disadvantages of Specialization.
Disadvantages of specialization
Against the foregoing benefits specialization has the following disadvantages:-
By performing the same task throughout the work becomes monotonous and this leads to industrial fatigue or boredom.
Specialization makes labour less flexible and may lead to unemployment for any reason such as a fall in demand for goods, a change in methods of production, rendering the workers' skill unwanted,
When one worker such as a technician or engineer is absent or when a small group of workers go on strike, the whole firm may be forced to stop for sometime.
Specialization may lead to standardization, that is the adoption of one standard for each material, machine, tool process or work method used in the manufacturing firm. This leads to little or no flexibility in the use of any raw material and machines. This may inhibit rapid changes even though more efficient and cheaper raw materials and equipment have been invented to replace it.
Specialisation usually leads to the concentration of industrial activity in particular areas which results in uneven development and in certain social upheavals like overcrowding and in some cases, like spraying and painting, there is increased risk of occupational diseases.
Specialization and division of labour may lead to localization of industries in a particular area. This could result into pollution, over crowding etc.
Quite often, there is little or no contact between the workers and the employer because of over specialization and large scale production.
The worker cannot fully associate himself with the final product because he only contributes a minute fraction to the product.
It prevents varied craftsmanship of a worker since they concentrate on only one specific tax.
It encourages exchange but requires one to constantly depend on others. This increases dependence on others. This increases dependence on others and lack of self-reliance.
It leads to over production, which may be faced, with a problem of shortage of market.
Limits to specialization
For specialization to be economically feasible, the size of the firm must be large enough to keep the specialized labour, machines or plants fully employed. It is not logical, for example, for a small shopkeeper to own a computer for calculating his profits and losses or to employ a qualified secretary and an accountant.
The size of the market also prevents the division of labour to take place beyond a certain limit. It is useless, for example, to extend the division of labour when demand is low.
Some industries by their nature have less scope for division of labour. In farming and fishing, for example, the same labour force may have to be used for different tasks, otherwise the workers are under-utilized. It is not logical for example, to say that some people will specialize in preparing the land, others in planting and others in weeding or harvesting millet
The willingness and ability of labour to work in different places under different conditions for a given period of lime and income may also limit the extent of specialization. If labour is scarce, and people are not willing to move from one region to another then specialization is restricted.
Availability of training facilities and security of employment are also important. Lack of training facilities leads to inefficiency while political instability and prolonged unemployment demoralizes workers and force them to change from job to job.
Location and Localization of an Industry
The learner should be able to;
a) Define the terms Location and Localization
b) Explain the factors influencing Location of business firms.
c) Give reasons for and against Localization
Location of an industry is the setting up of a particular industry in a particular area. Have you ever thought why cement industry is in Tororo, cloth and beer in Jinja? Industries may grow up by chance, but very often there is a reason or reasons why an industry happens to occur in a particular place.
Localization on the other hand refers to the concentration of an industry in a particular area. Firms producing similar products may deliberately decide to be near each other example the printing firms on Nasser road in Kampala.
Factors influencing Location of business firms
The setting up of industries in particular areas of a district or country is motivated by a number of factors. The following are some of the factors involved: -
Proximity to raw materials is a major factor determining the location of business firms. The closer a manufacturing firm is to the source of its raw materials the lower is the cost of transportation and the shorter is the delivery time for these items.
Location close to raw materials is particularly important to firms using perishable raw materials for example fruits, vegetables, and meat packing. For firms which use bulky, low value materials for example, clay for brickworks and timber for saw-mills, it is necessary for them to be located near these materials. This explains why the Beef factory was located in Soroti, Cement factory in Tororo and sugar factory in Lugazi.
Where raw materials are of the light kind less bulky and more valuable, the industry need not be located near the source of raw materials. There is for example a jute factory in Tororo yet the raw materials are from India.
In considering alternative sources of raw materials, a manufacturer should pay attention not only to their present availability and cost but also to their probable future availability. For example, will the mineral or timber resources soon be depleted?
An important factor in choosing the location for an industry is the supply of labour. This supply of labour must include all or most of the managerial skilled and semi-skilled workers required even though some shortages may be overcome at a cost of bringing in experienced employees from other industries by conducting crash training programmes, and even by recruiting from overseas. The labour also must be available at a reasonable cost.
Adequate fuel, power and water are also quite influential factors especially where production is highly mechanized and requires great quantities of power, fuel or water. Some firms such as steel mills and textile mills require a large amount of fuel in their manufacturing process. Location near the source of fuel i.e. coal, oil, natural gas may therefore be important.
All manufacturing firms require an adequate and reliable supply of power for operating machines and for lighting. This explains why most industries in the past were built near coal fields. It is partly for this reason that we find most industries in East African countries cited near hydro-electric power stations like, Jinja, Kisumu, Nairobi and Dar-es-Salaam.
Electricity can be transmitted to the area of its use. This together with the development of other forms of power such as oil, thermal and atomic power has made it possible to establish industries far away from their source of power. The greater the distance, however, the greater the transmission cost for manufacturing power, For firms which require an extremely large power supply for example, electrometallurgical and electrochemical industries, location near the power source is extremely important.
The textile industry requires soft water and the food industry uncontaminated water. This explains the location of Nile Breweries, and Nyanza Textiles in Jinja. Where special water requirements exist a check must be made of the quantity of water available, its chemical composition, its flow, temperature, seasonal variation and cost