Academia has become big business. Over a period of 30+ years I have observed that part-time admin roles that were filled by academics are now run by full-time corporate types. Their primary mandate is to increase profits and thus inflate their own salaries.

As for successful grants, I have seen that, now, 50% of the amounts immediately goes to "overhead" and the PI needs to pay for stipends and equipment from the remaining 50%, yet there are further "transaction charges" even those activities.

The publishing, grant winning, etc are simply "KPIs" so beloved by the MBA hordes.

What I found incredible is the lack of push-back from academics against the encroaching takeover by the biznoids. Speaking of whom, they don't give a damn about research, academia is merely yet another territory to which they extend their rent seeking (for themselves) activities.