Ok, so I realize that rallying against evil oppressive management is all the rage here on Slashdot, I mean HN, but let me offer an alternative view.
It's certainly not true at my day job (Microsoft SQL Server - you decide if its a big or a small org). Enough power is distributed throughout so you don't have to go to jump on Bill's desk. When one can get fellow engineers on board (which is the difficult part, really) one can always get management to accept their agenda and it doesn't rise even to VP level to get things sorted out. I've done it myself and I have seen others doing it.
So. Chose your work not based on org size, but on actual people you get to work with.
It's certainly not true at my day job (Microsoft SQL Server - you decide if its a big or a small org). Enough power is distributed throughout so you don't have to go to jump on Bill's desk. When one can get fellow engineers on board (which is the difficult part, really) one can always get management to accept their agenda and it doesn't rise even to VP level to get things sorted out. I've done it myself and I have seen others doing it.
So. Chose your work not based on org size, but on actual people you get to work with.