That sounds exactly like the hell I went through at Raytheon. In fact, I may have heard that visibility quote verbatim during one review.
Raytheon didn't have the problems described by Microsofties, though. The long-term employees (who were a majority at all the facilities I worked in) developed a sort of mass psychosis that was part Stockholm syndrome, part misguided patriotism, and part Dunning-Kruger. If you didn't drink the Kool-Aid yourself the stack ranking system would be the least of your worries, though it was a useful tool for managers to deal with subordinates who wouldn't comply.
Raytheon didn't have the problems described by Microsofties, though. The long-term employees (who were a majority at all the facilities I worked in) developed a sort of mass psychosis that was part Stockholm syndrome, part misguided patriotism, and part Dunning-Kruger. If you didn't drink the Kool-Aid yourself the stack ranking system would be the least of your worries, though it was a useful tool for managers to deal with subordinates who wouldn't comply.