It's one thing to identify poor performers and have a one-off clear out. It's something else entirely to repeat the process year after year, for every team, no matter how well each team performs as a unit.

That's even assuming you can somehow objectively identify "C players" in the first place.

The reality is decisions are often made for personal and political reasons. And because of that, stack ranking turns a company culture into a back-stabbing mess of simmering fear and hostility, and product excellence is forgotten.