Many things (and not just in a corporate world) seem to be inefficient until you understand the undercurrents, hidden factors and incentive structure. Take for

Many things (and not just in a corporate world) seem to be inefficient until you understand the undercurrents, hidden factors and incentive structure. Take for example hiring consultants. Why would you want to hire someone to get the watch off of your hand and tell you the time, as the joke goes? One factor is that consultants are used as the way to spread responsibility for important decisions. Consulting firms know that they may take (part of the) fall for someone and everyone plays this game. Another thing is that department or division may need to spend the budget, lest next year they are allocated less money.