In state bureaucracies and very unionized workplaces people will be afraid to fix something, even if they can and they should to avoid extreme waste, because they are afraid that it would take the credit away from someone else.
Seems like you're making a swipe at capitalism, but this behavior is also rampant in socialist economies (e.g. was very widespread in the USSR), so I don't think the economic system is to blame.
Particularly career ladders. Without career ladders, people wouldn't feel like they're losing something if they didn't come up with the idea.
My personal feeling is they are overused, but I'm not entirely ready to say they shouldn't exist entirely.
The one thing socialism gives you that capitalism doesn't in this case is that you're guaranteed a job if you are made redundant whereas in a capitalist system, you're out of a job unless you made your own arrangements.
