Classifying something as a cost creates a negative bias in the minds of those making decisions, which influences their whole perception of that function and how they treat it.
A cost is a cost; something you have to buy or pay (eg tax) in order to run a business. It is a negative figure in the P&L account. (Let's not get into depreciation, which is also a cost). Wrapping that definition in psychobabble simply allows CEOs and CFOs who have no understanding of the hard facts of life to delude themselves that their business is healthy when the hard reality is that it is loss-making and thus heading for administration.