How small is very small (given that they have an IT department)? 96% of private companies in the UK are less than 10 people, for example, covering 1/3 of the workforce. 99.9% are < 250 people. The remaining 0.1% (big corps) employ 40% of the working population.

0-9 is small enough that a few of those points are less likely to happen. It's still possible to be ignored, but you're a significant percentage of the workforce and the comapny is throwing money away if you're not productive quickly. Under 10 and you likely report directly to a CEO/CTO, or possibly one person below.