No one is going to half the cost, and executives don't in general do any sort of cost reduction activities for two reasons. First, they would be fighting dimin

No one is going to half the cost, and executives don't in general do any sort of cost reduction activities for two reasons. First, they would be fighting diminishing returns since there is only so much reduce-able cost. Second, they might in reality only be able to do a small cost reduction, then they are doubly screwed as they will reach diminishing returns faster. If the company mandates cost reduction executives will just fire a few hundred or thousand employees because that is deterministic, easy, and instant savings. They will just restaff when the cost reduction campaign is over.