> Within any organization, you can have 3 or 6 important people pushing in completely different strategic directions. And it can be clear to any unbiased observer that there's only one good, responsible choice,

Or, there ISN'T a clear exactly one good responsible choice, it really is a matter of judgement and/or choice of priorities/values... and then whoever can exert the most control over the contractor can still get their way by getting the contractor to pick their side.