Almost every time I asked someone in a large institution about putting up with something that obviously made no sense, I got the same 3 word reply, "It's a paycheck."
EDIT: Just to expand a little. In my experience (and Philip Greenspun would support me: http://philip.greenspun.com/ancient-history/managing-softwar...), managers generally are less up to date on technology than the people that report to them. While they may be more "in the know" about the concerns of the business, it's almost invariably backward-looking, i.e. what got the company this far, and protecting those gains. Add to that the rigors of trying to climb the career ladder, the increased status that makes most people less "hungry," and it's just common sense that change comes from the bottom. Good managers recognize that, and try to manage it. Bad managers just say "No." There's a lot more bad managers out there than good ones.
That pretty much nails it.
Almost every time I asked someone in a large institution about putting up with something that obviously made no sense, I got the same 3 word reply, "It's a paycheck."