The industry is being weakened by this pursuit of a mirage. Whether something does or does not add value lies in the eye of the beholder and is by nature a value judgement. Unfortunately this craze of "value-added" started to get into our management infrastructure and we're all guilty of mumbling this meaningless mantra, time and again.
Does it add value when you go to the John/Jane. Ofcourse it does if that is the only way to prevent a smelly product going to the customer. I've seen people make good careers out of doing nothing but mouthing the latest management plattitudes. Remember "continuous improvement". Seen somebody make a trip around the world in the cause of "continuous improvement". Ofcourse there should be continuous improvement. However, if you have to tell your people that this is an objective, you've already lost the battle. They should have known and practiced it all along. We all should be adding value all along and if you have to make a point of it, you have personnel you should have fired years ago, when you resigned. Let's all try and stop mouthing plattitudes. Ciao, Vic
