That's a valid point for businesses in general. However, for customer facing businesses like DHL or AA that depend on their websites for a large part of their

That's a valid point for businesses in general. However, for customer facing businesses like DHL or AA that depend on their websites for a large part of their customer interaction, caring a lot about your website would seem to be pretty important. I haven't worked in that situation before, but what is likely happening is that the managers in these large orgs are 50+, didn't grow up with the internet, and don't fully appreciate things like the importance of awesome design in your front page.