This isn't true even with a organized, disciplined team. What happens is the responsibilities of get divided out to other people on the team. Usually not the entire team, so some people are stuck with unacknowledged overhead.

meh. The problem is authority. PM / manager as described above is a co-ordination issue. Often administrative as well.

Either the company is imposing administrative burden a that it can remove with a little effort and scripting, or again it is co-ordination - which software usually excels at.

We can endlessly debate specifics but yes, there are many corporate environments that are almost impossible to navigate without full-time skilled administration - it that is a choice by the company not an inherent law of nature.

I seem to recall a Microsoft anecdote where someone released an internal form for developers to fill out, and billg personally sent round collecting the form telling people that sort of thing was not the Microsoft way. Far be MSFT from an ideal but bureaucracy is a choice.

Edit: my take on hierarchy and decision making is that it is clearly "obvious" that in war and times of stress there is only enough time for one person, the "hero", to review the battlefield and make decisions, which everyone else then follows. The problem with that is throughout human history that idea has literally had no better than 50/50 chance of succeeding.

I am very much short on Project management, administrative management as authority and generally anything that points away from democracy.