Merit is a rare thing. While skill is one of the factors that determine success, it is more often skill in office politics than in one's given profession. Our system is composed of thousands of miniature dictatorships in which one is forced to choose the lesser of evils. Quasi-feudal relationships are the judge of worth instead of good old hard work. There are no logical actors.
People base their decisions on emotion and how well they like a person.
Promotions and office political power are doled out to those who can most successfully navigate within the circles of top management. Acting rationally is not always the most productive choice for the company. This is even more often true for society. Hard work is just hard work. Most of the time corporations and businesses have no system to reward or even recognize those who work longer, harder and better.