Those activities necessary to remain in business are called value-added activities. Some activities__required activities__are necessary to comply with legal mandates. For example, RTM, Inc., is a public company. All the activities that RTP must do to comply with the reporting requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the filing requirements of the Internal Revenue Service are examples of mandated activities. These activities are value-added by man-date. The remaining activities in the firm are discretionary. A discretionary activity is classified as value-added provided is simultaneously satisfies three conditions;