This worked reasonably well in early corporations where the intelligence to run the business resided primarily at the top, and the other folks could do their jobs adequately just by following orders. In only the past few decades, the nature of the products produced by large corporations has been changing, and their organizations have been evolving to adapt. To stay in business corporations must now rely on the intelligence of employees at all levels - not just at the top. Employees determine the very nature of the products that can be offered by the corporation. The whole science of management is changing to accommodate this new type of employee.
Communication is the greatest challenge faced by management.
Some corporations have dozens of divisions world-wide, and employ hundreds of thousands of people. Effective operation of the corporation requires that people working on different parts of a project share information about it. Sometimes a problem on one project can be solved by a person who has similar experience on another project. Professional people are also expensive. This all seems very intimidating to the individual who has just accepted a first job in a huge corporation.