In this example, the work-power hierarchy means that employees get paid to waste time in meetings. If they pull out a laptop to do other work, then they are acc

In this example, the work-power hierarchy means that employees get paid to waste time in meetings. If they pull out a laptop to do other work, then they are accused of "not paying attention". They aren't cowardly to let this particular sleeping dog lie, they're accepting that, despite their initial attempt to be more productive in otherwise wasted time, the company will pay them anyway. If the owners (or stakeholders) of the company failed to address this, then they still can't be described as cowardly, just incompetent. The employees, if they're being paid anyway, aren't going to rock the boat improving the productivity output of the employer, especially after they've been shot down once for attempting to actually be more productive. They'll just shake their heads in disbelief at the fact that the company is willing to pay them to be unproductive.