Well as a TL I can understand the why. TM's probably can not relate to it.
Basically as TL's we are accountable for "the numbers". If guest feedback about your department sucks, your instock numbers are bad, accessory attach numbers, etc the DTL comes down on the ETLs. Of course, the ETLs turn around and blame it all on the TLs. So before you know it your ass is being hounded like crazy to get your numbers up, and it doesn't take long before the threats of write ups and termination start. Some TLs do shady things to get their numbers up....
I won't lie - I've done it too. Not fake surveys, but last christmas my instocks were going to hell and I was being scheduled nothing but closing shifts. Obviously you are not allowed to do research after the cut off time, and instock team was seriously dropping the ball. My ass was being rided by our DTL, STL, and ETL (and I mean riding it hard) to fix my instock situation. Unfortunately being scheduled to close so damn much made it almost impossible for me to do anything about it "by the book". So what did I do? I asked to "borrow" PDAs from seasonal team members (still logged in under their number) and researched during the closing shift. I knew that on Workbench it would look like they were breaking the rules, but I also knew they were going to be let go after the holidays anyway so it really didn't matter if it came back on them. It fixed my instock problem and possibly saved me from write ups/job loss. Am I proud of what I did? No.... but sometimes you have to do what you have to do to get your numbers where they need to be. Every TL does it somehow, sometimes. They won't admit it of course, and sometimes even tell themselves they are not playing the system.... but if you don't do it no matter how good a TL you are eventually the numbers will screw you over unless you find a way to control them.
A perfect example.... how many TLs do you know in your store have never tied/broken ties of end caps in order to meet their POG set dates? I know for a fact every TL at my store has done it every now and then, and I've even seen our ETL-HL do it. That's just how it goes - and as the saying goes, don't hate the player hate the game.