I see what I said had no effect.
Steven, until a year ago, I worked in a company that built systems containing hardware and software (we developed) in many of the subsystems. I was Program Manager for many of these projects. You can have good software development environments and policies--or not. You can have good, thorough test programs--or not. You can deliver the product to your customer when it is ready--or not.
I also understand the pressures of schedules and cost overruns. They were how I was measured. I know that because of these factors, you sometimes make judgments about moving a product to the operational environment before you really should, but you feel you have no choice.
The difference between you and me is that I realized when I did this that I was going to take hits for the resulting pieces of unpleasantness that were sure to occur--and was willing to do so. And on some projects, I did have to acknowledge the state of affairs and take my lumps. Fortunately, on the vast majority, we were successful in delivering products that satisfied the customer. BUT WHEN WE MESSED UP, OUR FAULT OR NOT, WE DIDN'T MAKE EXCUSES. It goes a long way, reputation-wise, in the industry.