Adam Smith was born on June 16, 1723 in Kirkcaldy, Scotland and died on July 17, 1790 in Edinburgh, Scotland. He is considered the founder of modern economics. His key work is “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations”, published in 1776. The year of the publication of this book is considered the date of the inception of modern economics as a seperate science (which at the time was called political economics). In his book, Smith presented his concept of the natural economic order based on ownership, competition and the division of labor. A key parable is his concept of the invisible hand of the market, which, paradoxically, “guides” economic subjects who act in their selfish interest to the benefit of society as a whole.
From the management perspective, his observation about the division of labor is key as a means of increasing productivity and efficiency and therefore led to an increase of productivity in the manufactures of Smith´s time.