The failure to properly administer a business does not make the sales/software cost center rule less true. I have seen this failure repeated exactly as you desc

The failure to properly administer a business does not make the sales/software cost center rule less true. I have seen this failure repeated exactly as you describe a few times in my career, though. I have also seen some major brands anticipate this problem and over correct for it by hiring too many developers without any kind of discipline or unifying vision.