As a consultant, I try to reduce my billable hours as much as possible, then charge an appropriate amount for the value I have created, not the time spent, and this leaves me more time for more clients or leisure.
I can't speak to the prevalence of this mentality, but it rings true for my consultancy. The idea of maximizing hours is absurd. We do everything we can to minimize hours, thus maximizing value to the client. That's how we keep our clients happy, and make room for more business.
Is this not the typical mentality?