Originally Posted by akl_traveller

If we were to take your statement at face value, we'd never challenge anything; we'd accept whatever was received practice.
Personally I think differently. And considering many of the people flying for business are consultants or sales staff, who at the end of their flight will have to (usually quantifiably) show the benefit of their product, and who in the former case will likely use very similar tools (name a consultant who doesn't love a good algorithm), I often think what's good for the goose is good for the gander.
The unexamined life is not worth living, and going beyond facile statements such as "pay and prestige" (which is already incorporated into the equation) to actually pull the situation apart strikes me as a much more useful approach.
I'm willing to bet that if companies used this sort of approach they'd be able to strip a fair bit of cost out.