Everything is a cost center, since costs must always be allocated. In this case, we&#x27;re talking about something being <i>only</i> a cost center, since there&#x27;s no revenue center associated to it.<p>If you stop calling it &quot;cost center&quot; and decide to call it &quot;pure awesomeness ninja center&quot; won&#x27;t make a difference, people will just attribute the same meaning to the new word.<p>On your point on competitiveness, I completely agree, just like HR having awesome hiring and retention policies can do miracles for a company, even if it&#x27;s <i>just</i> a cost center.<p>Legal too, for any major corporation legal is <i>just</i> a cost center, but one that routinely saves the company from total obliteration.<p>Being a cost center or a revenue center has no relation to the relevance of the people involved.