Remind me, just what is the purpose of management?

Anyone who works is no doubt familiar with the following "management speak" - 'passion', 'world class', 'solutions', 'enabler'. 'transparency', 'excellence', 'best practice', 'our most valuable assets are our employees', etc.

Gate Gourmet currently at the centre of a serious employment relations dispute in the UK use similar language (such as below) to tell the world how seriously they take their employee's needs and interests:

'We communicate in an open way and promote inspiring teamwork; we treat our colleagues, customers and suppliers with respect and dignity; we pay market competitive salaries and offer adequate social security,'

A bank uses the following statement to outline a current business strategy:

'leveraging its global footprint to provide effective financial solutions for its customers by providing a gateway to diverse markets'

But, what does this all mean? Well, according to Simon Caulkin, the language of management represents a parallel universe. He considers whether management is a hoax and the over use of a language devoid of meaning could the be at the root of why many employees fail to work anywhere near their potentional - Adrift in a parallel universe