by Todd Pheifer

Created on: December 14, 2007

As someone who has worked for both small and large organizations, I am more in favor of the small business for a variety of reasons. They both have their advantages, but in order to answer this question, you have to address the issue of "better for whom"? In other words, it really depends on the type of employee that you are, what ambitions you have, and how you see your role in the organization. The following are a few factors that differentiate small and large organizations.

STABILITY
Small businesses fold all the time. It can a tough road to start and sustain a small business through the tough times of growth and economic change, though for some the challenge of keeping afloat is what draws them to the small business. Therefore, a large corporation can be more stable in terms of employment for the given individual. That said, even corporations struggle financially. When they do, the first place they sometimes look is at the payroll. If you are just one of many employees in a corporation, there may not be an incentive of loyalty to keep you.

IMPACT
When you are an employee in a small business, you get to make lots of decisions. This can be exhilarating or burdensome for the employee, depending on how much control one likes to maintain. In a large corporation, one usually doesn't walk in the door and start making organizational changes. For someone who likes to shape their environment, this can be maddening, particularly if they see inefficiencies and processes that they perceive not to work. Others are just fine with having the organization dictate their procedures and practices to them. This alleviates them from stressing about the impact of their decision because the company is going to make it for them.

DIRECTION
The small business has the ability to adapt, which can be extremely advantageous in terms of capitalizing on market changes. On the other hand, a wrong move can doom the small business to travel down a path to destruction. The large corporation is much like an ocean liner in that it takes a lot of effort and time to turn the ship. This allows the large corporation to be consistent in their product but it also means that they may be slow to adapt. As mentioned above, a person may relish the opportunity to steer a small organization or they may be overwhelmed by that responsibility. Reciprocally, a person may be frustrated by their inability to move a large organization in any direction. Or, they may find it comforting to have predictability and consistency.

RESOURCES
Like it or not, money does impact many of our decisions. The large corporation, though sometimes slow to change, does often have more resources to allocate. This can sometimes overcome the inability to adapt quickly. The small organization is often struggling for funds and must be more creative in their efforts, rather than simply being able to buy their way to success.

Both small and large organizations have their advantages in terms of work environments. Most of what impacts your work atmosphere is the people that you work with and culture that the company creates. Regardless of organizational size, work is affected greatly by your co-workers and the work that you do. Some of that is universal, in whatever work that you do.

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