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Division of Labour and Outsourcing: Mutually Exclusive Concepts?

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Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, Economics and Management (MS 2012)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing ((LNBIP,volume 115))

Abstract

Division of labour has been recognised as a source of wealth to nations, by some experts without considering its effects on labour. However, some experts are of the view that increasing division of labour contracts the range of choice of ways of making a living for the working class. Thus the outcome of division of labour is the lowering of value of individual workers. Workers’ activities become increasingly narrow and monotonous, through division of labour which mars instead of developing their creativity. Outsourcing on the other hand, has been considered a requirement for corporations to earn higher profits and to respond to competition. Thus, companies that refuse to look outward for lower-cost inputs may lose their competitive advantages under a global setting. This paper contends that the logic of outsourcing cannot be mutually exclusive from the logic division of labour. Outsourcing simply implies the internationalisation of division of labour. Whereas division of labour was localised, outsourcing has been globalised to provide capital with additional leverage to exploit labour globally.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management, Faculty of Management, University of Johannesburg, RSA

    Wilfred I. Ukpere

  2. Management College of South Africa (MANCOSA), RSA

    Mohammed S. Bayat

Authors
  1. Wilfred I. Ukpere
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  2. Mohammed S. Bayat
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hagan School of Business, Iona College, New Rochelle, NY, USA

    Kurt J. Engemann

  2. Department of Business Administration, University of Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    Anna M. Gil-Lafuente  & José M. Merigó  & 

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Ukpere, W.I., Bayat, M.S. (2012). Division of Labour and Outsourcing: Mutually Exclusive Concepts?. In: Engemann, K.J., Gil-Lafuente, A.M., Merigó, J.M. (eds) Modeling and Simulation in Engineering, Economics and Management. MS 2012. Lecture Notes in Business Information Processing, vol 115. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30433-0_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-30433-0_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-30432-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-30433-0

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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