This is an interesting question. I think the software industry (speaking from someone who works at a startup in SF) today puts a high emphasis on "culture fit" which is best determined (imho) by committee. I think you'll find that other industries (banking, consulting, law) also put a lot emphasis on hiring by committee; one hypothesis I have is that these industries, like the tech industry, are high churn industries (average tenure ~2 years), so if your champion leaves, you'd best hope everyone else wants you to be there.