Pair programming is definitely a different skill and takes practice. Because of this I doubt management could ever force it. You'd need people on the team that know how to do it and can help others learn. And if you have those people, they're probably already implementing it.
For me, pairing helps avoid bad decisions before it's too late. There are a lot of choices in programming and when both I and my partner agree on a path it's probably the right one. If we can't agree, usually it's because neither is better than the other.
Also not all tasks are right for pairing. Research for example can be frustrating as a pair activity. This is another reason we like this setup since it gets out of the way for non-pair tasks.
For me, pairing helps avoid bad decisions before it's too late. There are a lot of choices in programming and when both I and my partner agree on a path it's probably the right one. If we can't agree, usually it's because neither is better than the other.
Also not all tasks are right for pairing. Research for example can be frustrating as a pair activity. This is another reason we like this setup since it gets out of the way for non-pair tasks.