Final answer:
A company's value stream map includes both value-added and non-value-added activities, not just the former. It helps identify waste and improve processes. In global trade, splitting up the value chain helps with specialization and innovation, whereas GDP calculations exclude intermediate goods.
Step-by-step explanation:
A value stream map in a company does not only depict the value-added activities needed to complete a product or process. This mapping tool also includes non-value-added activities, enabling the company to visualize both types of activities and identify areas of waste. Understanding this helps in process improvement by focusing on those areas that contribute directly to creating value for the customer. The splitting up the value chain in global trade allows firms to specialize in specific stages of the production process, contributing to economic gains and innovation. Finally, when calculating Gross Domestic Product (GDP), governments and statisticians count only the value of final goods and services, excluding intermediate goods, to not overstate the size of the economy.