Short Takes

CM: What trends in the consulting market have been in Archstone’s favor? Lavieri: There are a couple of interesting trends. There has been a democratization of consulting purchasing. I think that if you look back 15 years, if a larger strategy firm was walking the halls, smaller firms couldn’t get an audience. I think that when consulting downsized in ’01, ’02, and even in ’03, many consultants went into corporations. They are now smarter buyers of consulting services, and we have found that they are also more willing to hear the pitch. If we’ve got the right people on the opportunity, we’ll win.