> You also have to consider more factors than just P&L. If you push sales people to the point they start breaking the law, or you push machinery and operators to the point of a massive oil spill, you could jeopardize the whole business, or worse. You need to know where the limits are, and that only comes from understanding the people, and the process, beyond just the charts.

So what? Catastrophic, disastrous failure has long since been priced in. Remember the Exxon Valdez, one of the worst environmental disasters in history? Almost completely forgotten and to my knowledge no person was held accountable other than the captain who had to pay a 50.000$ fine.

As long as C-level execs can drive a company to the ground with completely no personal repercussions, why should they not do anything to maximize their ROI (=their bonus payments)?