I agree with all this - the bigger an organisation gets, the harder it is to take full interest in each little sector. The more sectors there are, the less important each individual one becomes to the whole. The employees in that sector realise this and are therefore less motivated than they would be if they were being more closely monitored and rewarded for their efforts - they know they are unimportant and that reflects in their own attitude.
(See, that module on business studies was not a waste!)

The problem is that Ducati have to make sure they do not become the victims of their own success - success normally leads to expansion as the owners of the company want to capitolise on that success and make more profit...and then it all goes pear-shaped.

But I think this is why Ducati is so well able to fight with the bigger boys - so far they have managed to stay at their optimum size and there is still a strong sense of pride within the company which keeps driving it towards success.

Having said that, the Japanese are, in their nature and culture loyal and extremely hard-working....clearly that is just not enough.