Sometimes they're just stupid. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply the case that it's what they do, it's what they've always done, and it sometimes wor

Sometimes they're just stupid. But I wouldn't be surprised if it was simply the case that it's what they do, it's what they've always done, and it sometimes works, so why stop now? And maybe it's normalized; maybe you go to the bar with some managers at other companies and they talk about doing the same things. If the average person in this situation just wants to move on, and get away as fast as possible, then maybe they're more prone to giving in to your demands than fighting back. Probably mostly the first part.