Process or Product?

"In any enterprise, the process of making or doing something is ultimately more important than the final product."

Discuss the extent to which you agree or disagree with the opinion expressed above. Support your point of view with reasons and/or examples from your own experience, observations, or reading.

In a fiercely result-oriented world of today it is hard to take this opinion on its face value. 

In theory it sounds very poetic, even a bit romantic, to say that the process is more important than the final product. Even practically it makes some sense to some extent. If the process is good then it is highly probable that it will take care of the end product. After all, a chain is only as strong as its weakest link. If each step is done with due care and diligence, it can ensure that the final product will be good too. However the real focus for a practical person would still be the final product. 

Moreover this statement seems to imply that there are always some ways of doing things that are better than the others. Even when the quality of the end product is same. This may be true but I am not convinced if it is always the case.  If all the processes produce the same quality of product, then saying that one is better than the other can be practical opinion, personal opinion or both! If it is a personal opinion, I do not agree with the same as it may be a simple prejudice. However I may agree with it if it has some strategic, practical or ethical value. In a relative world it is very easy to assume a self-righteous, idealistic position and never realize that you are wrong. I would rather keep an open mind than assume a process to be superior.

Concluding, I do not agree with the idealistic premises of the stated opinion. In the end people judge a process by the quality of the product produced. Moreover assuming that there exists one process which is always better than others goes against tenets of lateral thinking and keeping an open mind.