Is Baseline Develped only for Mangement "nice" View????

Hi everyone, I have a query and looking for advise.... Is baseline developed only to set a "nice" s curve for the corporate to view or should it be developed to be a useful monitoring tool for project management team to utilize in order to have a "realistic" look ahead??? Aren’t planner suppose to take Project Manager’s plan and put it into a Baseline??? Or just listen to some Planning Dept. Manager to just developed a "one Bar" baseline and cast a "cheating" curve???

Thank You