Essay on Characteristics of Industrial Revolution (386 Words)!
The mid-1700s saw the movement from the cottage industry (where production of items was limited to family and living quarters) to the factory system (where products are produced in a centralized location) and this gave birth to the industrial revolution in Europe and especially in England.
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This industrial revolution changed the entire behaviour of the civilized world. Adam Smith is known to have established the management principles in the area of division of labour and specialization around 1776.
Eli Whitney in 1800 introduced the idea of interchangeability of parts which led to the standardization of parts resulting in mass production. These principles were highly utilized by Henry Ford in mass production of automobiles.
There are a number of characteristics associated with industrial revolution. Some of these are:
1. Specialization:
Specialization is the division of labour where each worker is assigned to a small unit of a job in which he becomes a specialist. This gives rise to assembly line production.
2. Standardization:
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With standardization, identical goods are produced in millions of units. The result is the interchangeability of parts, making specialization less complicated. This results in simplification of quality control and helps the consumer in trusting the quality of the product and being able to acquire the product anywhere and from any competitor.
3. Synchronization:
Synchronization helps in the coordination and blending of all elements at one place. This helps in assembly line fittings and sequential operations.
4. Concentration:
The concentration of people and products were associated with the industrial revolution in that people were taken from farms and other isolated places and concentrated at the location of factories. The location of auxiliary support systems to these factories gave rise to urban inhabitation resulting in cities and industrial complexes.
5. Maximization:
This characteristic of the industrial revolution has emphasized efficiency and optimum returns on investment of capital, time and human resources. This resulted in the “survival of the fittest” philosophy giving rise to mergers with and acquisition of companies resulting in huge industrial complexes.
6. Centralization:
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Centralization requires that control and policy decisions be made at the top management level, while operational decisions are made in a decentralized form at the operational level. However, as the industrial conglomerates become more diversified and divisional, some of the central decision making powers are passed on to the divisions.