I always got the feeling that because it's such a key product the Excel team was basically its own organisation within the wider corporation and as a result had a lot more freedom to make its own choices.

(not that I'm arguing for trust that would, as you say, be misplaced, but if my feeling is correct then the Excel org's englightened self interest can diverge from the mothership's self interest more than other divisions can, which makes the calculations as to what your management is likely to decide notably different)