Working for a large organization

I have throughout my career always worked for a small company. I have consulted with large companies many a time but have not stayed for a long term project and therefore have not been exposed to the many nuances of working for a large organization.
It would seem to me that it would be easy to get lost in a large organization. With so many people doing so many things a sub par performer can get lost easily because there is always someone else to pick up the slack.

Where I come from, both at APQC and Xpediant you are always in the forefront in terms of performance. In smaller organizations "not working" is not an option; there are so few people that it's easy to spot a slacker (for the most part of course).
So now I am here in a larger organization and I realize that I am not entirely correct about my assumption of being able to hide in a large organization.

Although it is only my first day here I find that large organizations are made of small groups. So at a high level it may be business units but they are too large, in a business unit you have functions, within functions you have processes or teams, so even though the organization as a whole is large, your exposure to the team and their expectations of you is the same as working in a small organization.
I am not making any absolute statements of large and small organziations or work behavior, just expressing my opinion based on observation.
I will continue to write about the nuances of working for a large company and point out the similarities and differences. If you have thoughts please feel free to share them with me.