Line. The traditional view is that the line adds value, while the staff is an expense. This is ridiculous. Why would anyone create a function that does not have a value-adding purpose? The issue is not that staff does not add value. It is that the value is harder to find than in the line function that directly makes or sells the product. In recent years it has become more apparent that staff departments can also be run as value-adding operations. The way they do this is to find out what die SQP objectives of the line functions are and then act directly to support diem. There is a subtle but profound difference between staff programs or services and effects on line results.