Foreword by Charles Bytheway. A Value Analysis book disguised as a novel, Basic Function, is told through the eyes of Michelle Jamison, a recent engineering college grad who begins her career with Alarum Aerospace in her home town of Chicago. When she arrives on her first day she is confronted with chaos and animosity that is nothing like the public image of the company culture. The economy has been rough on the aerospace business and especially at the iconic firm. The company's reputation takes another blow when one of their valves fails in flight for the second time in the same month with the same customer. Dean Davis, the larger than life vice president, decides to take action. After an internal effort fails to yield necessary financial and customer results he calls in an outside expert to guide the design team through the Value Analysis job plan. Is this too little too late? Could Value Analysis, a 50 year old methodology, alter the team's results? Could it be enough to save the company? Could it change the paradigms, attitudes and behaviors of individuals of the design team and the company as a whole?