Production (economics)
Encyclopedia
In economics
, production is the act of creating 'use' value or 'utility' that can satisfy a want or need. The act may or may not include factors of production other than labor. Any effort directed toward the realization of a desired product or service is a "productive" effort and the performance of such act is production.
Look at the table, the pen and various items around you which you must be using at some time or other. Imagine about the food which you usually consumed or even the clothes you are now wearing.
How have these items come into beings? In fact, they are the result of the process called production.
If a process yields an outcome worse or the same as before it occurred, then the process cannot strictly be termed as production. For example, washing a clean shirt is not production, even if it occupies the labour of a person, costs time and uses up laundry resources.
However, destruction of value in one sense may be a part of the production of another commodity, e.g. pulling down a building to create a highway.
, particularly sociology
, production is a fundamental concern of the classical theorists of sociology, particularly and most famously in the work and theory of Karl Marx
but also in that of Emile Durkheim
, Max Weber
and Georg Simmel
. With the advent of the assembly line
and mass production
for mass consumption, social scientists have shifted the classical fascination with the socially meaningful practice of production in society, toward the more-modern and very noticeable practice in advanced capitalist societies - being consumption
.
Economics
Economics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
, production is the act of creating 'use' value or 'utility' that can satisfy a want or need. The act may or may not include factors of production other than labor. Any effort directed toward the realization of a desired product or service is a "productive" effort and the performance of such act is production.
Look at the table, the pen and various items around you which you must be using at some time or other. Imagine about the food which you usually consumed or even the clothes you are now wearing.
How have these items come into beings? In fact, they are the result of the process called production.
If a process yields an outcome worse or the same as before it occurred, then the process cannot strictly be termed as production. For example, washing a clean shirt is not production, even if it occupies the labour of a person, costs time and uses up laundry resources.
However, destruction of value in one sense may be a part of the production of another commodity, e.g. pulling down a building to create a highway.
Social science
In social sciencesSocial sciences
Social science is the field of study concerned with society. "Social science" is commonly used as an umbrella term to refer to a plurality of fields outside of the natural sciences usually exclusive of the administrative or managerial sciences...
, particularly sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, production is a fundamental concern of the classical theorists of sociology, particularly and most famously in the work and theory of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
but also in that of Emile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
, Max Weber
Max Weber
Karl Emil Maximilian "Max" Weber was a German sociologist and political economist who profoundly influenced social theory, social research, and the discipline of sociology itself...
and Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel
Georg Simmel was a major German sociologist, philosopher, and critic.Simmel was one of the first generation of German sociologists: his neo-Kantian approach laid the foundations for sociological antipositivism, asking 'What is society?' in a direct allusion to Kant's question 'What is nature?',...
. With the advent of the assembly line
Assembly line
An assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
and mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
for mass consumption, social scientists have shifted the classical fascination with the socially meaningful practice of production in society, toward the more-modern and very noticeable practice in advanced capitalist societies - being consumption
Consumption (economics)
Consumption is a common concept in economics, and gives rise to derived concepts such as consumer debt. Generally, consumption is defined in part by comparison to production. But the precise definition can vary because different schools of economists define production quite differently...
.
See also
- Assembly lineAssembly lineAn assembly line is a manufacturing process in which parts are added to a product in a sequential manner using optimally planned logistics to create a finished product much faster than with handcrafting-type methods...
- EconomicsEconomicsEconomics is the social science that analyzes the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. The term economics comes from the Ancient Greek from + , hence "rules of the house"...
- FordismFordismFordism, named after Henry Ford, is a modern economic and social system based on industrial mass production. The concept is used in various social theories about production and related socio-economic phenomena. It has varying but related meanings in different fields, as well as for Marxist and...
- Means of productionMeans of productionMeans of production refers to physical, non-human inputs used in production—the factories, machines, and tools used to produce wealth — along with both infrastructural capital and natural capital. This includes the classical factors of production minus financial capital and minus human capital...
- Mode of productionMode of productionIn the writings of Karl Marx and the Marxist theory of historical materialism, a mode of production is a specific combination of:...
- ModernityModernityModernity typically refers to a post-traditional, post-medieval historical period, one marked by the move from feudalism toward capitalism, industrialization, secularization, rationalization, the nation-state and its constituent institutions and forms of surveillance...
- Outline of industrial organization
- Product (business)Product (business)In general, the product is defined as a "thing produced by labor or effort" or the "result of an act or a process", and stems from the verb produce, from the Latin prōdūce ' lead or bring forth'. Since 1575, the word "product" has referred to anything produced...
- SociologySociologySociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
- Taylorism