[pasbesoin]

The quintessential (business) terms for this are "profit center" and "cost center".

Next realize that the assignment of those terms is -- "standards" aside -- essentially arbitrary. One trick of senior managers "parachuted" in to "fix" things, is to start labeling things left and right as "cost centers". They then proceed with a -- very often, short-term -- plan to starve or kill them. Remember, their pay and bonus are dependent upon the next few quarters and not on long-term prospects.

Resulting advice: When you are in a "cost center", get out.