It took me quite a while to realize that conservatism was hoodwinked by talking about "shareholder value" when publicly traded companies are almost never controlled any longer by the founders or owners. Instead, they are controlled by "professional" managers who actually know nothing about how to run their companies and are acting solely in their own interest and that of the often minority shareholders who are looking for a pump and dump.
Any idiot with a spreadsheet can do "cost-cutting" by outsourcing to China, hiring illegals, using cheaper inputs and destroying customer service. They don't care as long as they have the backing of those providing ready capital on Wall Street, who also benefit from short-term gains but get out early.