Generally agree
I haven't been involved in those discussions but I'll take your word for it.
We do agree on what business is about. However, management usually is not made up of owners of the businesses in question, so the motivation may not be as clean and clear as your otherwise accurate assessment would indicate. It's a classic case of the agency issue. The manager is going to protect himself before he looks after the company. And unfortunately this often results in short-term decisions and dishonesty because:
1. People he reports to don't understand what he's doing and have unrealistic expectations.
2. These people are often complicit in the agency problem themselves in their own unique situation.
3. His skills, comfort zone, preferences, etc may be highest in areas that aren't the best solutions for the business issues.
4. Ego. Nobody is going to tell him the right way to do things. He's the boss by golly and if that means cutting off his nose to spite his face, he'll do it.
Of these, the only one I'm COMPLETELY unsympathetic to is the last one. It would be nice to say none of them are factors and you can bet every company out there will say that; however, I tend to think if there is such a company, it's not on planet earth.
I was addressing what I saw as a general vilification of all managers. What I've seen in my life is often folks who are complaining the loudest about management do the same things they complained about when they get some power themselves.
