Introduction
The city of Vancouver is one of the single most strategic locations in British Columbia in Canada. In fact, Vancouver can easily be said to be a melting pot based on the fact that the population in the city is by far diversified to a greater extent. The population census of 2011 revealed that close to 51% of the population spoke a first language other than Canadian English. The concept of division of labor is an intrinsic subject in any given work environment. The Silver Wheaton Corporation is one of the biggest mining companies in Vancouver (Silver Wheaton Corporation, 2014). The corporation has grown tremendously since the time of inception to the extent that the workforce has increased significantly. The essence of this text is to put into perspective the concept of division of labor in the context of Silver Wheaton Corporation, based on gender, race and issues of role allocation.
One of the most intrinsic issues of considerations in any working environment is division of labor. The essence of specification in labor is to allocate roles to people based on their areas of specialization (Boundless, 2013). The Silver Wheaton Corporation is a mining corporation that specializes in the mining of silver in large scale. In the mining industry, a number of people are required to enhance the process of mining. Case in point is that mining depends on the tenacity and the specialization of every single department within the corporation. In working environment such as a mining industry, there are a number of issues that come into play. Apart from specialized roles and allocation of duties based on some special circumstances, gender and race play a huge role in the division of labor (Cranford, 2012). The different aspects of role allocation in this context are particularly relevant to the extent to which this study is concerned.
The Silver Wheaton Corporation has grown tremendously based on its income per capita. It is a significant indication that growth has been an inherent factor for the company. The company attracts a large number of people from the city of Vancouver to the extent that diversity in the workplace is enhanced to a great extent. One of the things that remain clear is that a number of issues continue to play out based on division of labor. One of the most intrinsic issues that play out at the corporation has all to do with allocating roles based on ability and qualifications. The workers at the mining company are allocated roles based on how much they are able to deliver on the tasks allocated to them.
Division of labor at the Silver Wheaton Corporation takes shape based on different perspectives. Case in point is that a number of issues are considered apart from specialization in role allocation (Boundless, 2013). One of the issues that play on has all to do with gender issues. Mining corporations consider men to be their top priority other than women. Men are thought to be the right people for the mining job to the extent that they are given the first priority in terms of employment. The same applies to the wages payable to the employees. Even though specialization plays a critical role in terms having the right people for the jobs, Silver Wheaton Corporation considers gender issues as very important.
There are many departments that are found in the company. The different departments are the essence of division of labor. For instance, there are people who engage in the mining fields while others are involved with the paperwork. In all these undertakings, the men are highly favored to take the jobs at the jobs at the mining sites while the women take the less intriguing jobs. The Silver Wheaton Corporation has a policy that ensures that the company is aligned based on the inherent principles of division of labor.
Another issue that plays out in the division of labor is the issue of race. The company does not have a policy of the racial composition of its workers. In essence, there are no proper guidelines that guide relations between the different groups within Silver Wheaton Corporation. In the modern dispensation, diversification has become one of the single most intrinsic issues in every given work environment. Every corporation today considers people from different backgrounds as important assets. The cultural issues in the workplace are potential conflict areas that can easily bring about intolerance at the work place. People working together in harmony despite the diverse cultural differences only ensure that there is coherence in the working relationships of the people within the organization (Lindbeck and Snower, 2000).
Though there is no form of discrimination against blacks or any other racial group, Silver Wheaton Corporations ensure a role allocation strategy that ensures that the people are combined in a cohesive manner that allows them to work with the harmony that brings about productivity (In Dunlap, 2001). On the other hand, the other group that features prominently in the Silver Wheaton Corporation is the immigrants. Policies on immigration in the city of Vancouver allow the people to acquire jobs in any given place. In this case, immigrants are allocated roles at the mining corporation, though the jobs allocated are less superior to what the other workers do.
One unique issue that is testimony in the Silver Wheaton Corporation has all to do with solidarity of different groups within the company. Immigrants in the mining company have different strategies that bring them together to the extent that they are able to talk about the common course in the respective areas of operations. Solidarity has been a common thing for workers working for different corporations (Cranford, 2012). Though the phenomenon has toned down to significant levels, a number of groups continue to use solidarity in respective areas of operations.
The aim of the division of labor is to ensure that there is cohesion in the activities within the working environment of any given company. In the modern dispensation, division of labor continues to take different shapes in terms of diversification processes (Meiksins et al, 2000). While the division of labor is supposed to streamline the operations of a company, it is critical to note that there it can cause disharmony among the workers to the extent that disharmony is ensured.
Conclusion
The concept of division of labor is one of the most important subjects in any work environment. Role allocation based on merit and ability is the essence of division of labor. The Silver Wheaton Corporation has an elaborate division of labor strategy that ensures that every single person in the mining corporation is allocated roles based on different perspectives. Though ability and merit are some of the major considerations that are made within the mining corporation, race and gender issues play a major role in the division of labor not to mention immigration issues. To this extent, it is critical to note that the division of labor is one of the single most important issues in a work environment.
References:
Boundless. (2013). The Importance of the Division of Labor: Division of labor is the specialization of cooperative labor in specific, circumscribed tasks and roles. Retrieved from: <https://www.boundless.com/sociology/understanding- economy/work/the- importance-of-the-division-of-labor/>
Cranford, Cynthia J. (2012). Gendered Projects of Solidarity: Workplace Organizing among Immigrant Women and Men. Gender, Work and Organization. Vol. 19 No. 2. Gwao_585 142.164.
In Dunlap, R. E. (2001). Sociological theory and the environment: Classical foundations, contemporary insights. Lanham, Md: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers.
Lindbeck, A. and Snower, D. J. (2000). ‘Multitask learning and the reorganization of
Work: from tayloristic to holistic organization’, Journal of Labor Economics, vol. 18(3), pp. 353-76
Meiksins, P., Steiger, T. L., & Wardell, M. (2000). Rethinking the labor process. Albany, NY: State Univ. of New York Press.
Silver Wheaton Corporation. (2014). Silver Wheaton corporation news. Business Vancouver. Retrieved From: <http://www.biv.com/section/BIV&template=topicresults&t=4020&topic=Silver%20Whe aton%20Corp.&topictype=news&start=1>
