Independent designers, traditionally familiar with making decisions for their clients, are relying more on teams and consensus building to undertake design initiatives. Creativity is simply not enough to serve the clients' needs. With new delivery systems being offered to clients every day, the best-looking plans and specifications are only as good as their implementation. Price has, in one way or another, seemingly always been a dealmaker or deal breaker. The push to value has overtaken price in many instances.
Management theory defines value as performance divided by price.
According to this definition, if price is lowered, value increases. Historically, organizations of design professionals have looked like hierarchical pyramids, with some wider at the bottom than others. No matter what the structure of the organization, it must reinforce and support the strategy and culture of that firm to be successful. Today, many owners are willing to sell their firms to employees or to other companies interested in their businesses. In many cases, design firms have outgrown the owners, or the owners want to start over or work for other firms as consultants.