Ever heard of Empire Building? It's a common problem in corporations. Mid-level managers become important by having a lot of underlings. I imagine this would be even more important in compartmentalized areas, as mid-level managers would nominally have no other method to signal their importance to superiors or peers.
I can also think of a situation where a contractor might hire a mid-level manager's husband, wife or child. The mid-level manager would be able to crank up his or her headcount to get the relative a sizeable Christmas "bonus". I've heard tell that this sort of thing actually happens.
The most charitable explanation would be that they have no way even to know if they're doing it, and the tendency of large systems under such conditions is to degrade in efficiency.
Ever heard of Empire Building? It's a common problem in corporations. Mid-level managers become important by having a lot of underlings. I imagine this would be even more important in compartmentalized areas, as mid-level managers would nominally have no other method to signal their importance to superiors or peers.
I can also think of a situation where a contractor might hire a mid-level manager's husband, wife or child. The mid-level manager would be able to crank up his or her headcount to get the relative a sizeable Christmas "bonus". I've heard tell that this sort of thing actually happens.
The most charitable explanation would be that they have no way even to know if they're doing it, and the tendency of large systems under such conditions is to degrade in efficiency.