If there's a single new trend in cost cutting, it may simply be
this: Setting cost-cutting targets is out; rethinking every
single expenditure from the ground up is in.  "It used to be
that companies would look at last year's budget and maybe say
that everything will go up by 2% or 5%. Or if they felt they
needed to cut costs, they'd say that everything will go down by
3%. But that just doesn't work anymore," says James Carulas, a
vice president at Meaden & Moore, a five-office accounting firm
based in Cleveland. "These days there's always someone out there
who has a lower overhead structure and can do what you do for
less. So you've got to start thinking about the whole notion of
controlling costs in a different and more comprehensive way."
What that means, quite simply, is that a company's owners and
managers need to focus not only on what they're spending but on
how and why as well. As an example, Carulas points to a law firm
that may have traditionally spent a large sum each year
maintaining its research