Plan a Cost-Reduction Programme That Does Not Hollow the Organisation

The finance director wants fifteen percent off the cost base. The operations team is worried about what gets cut. This designs the programme: how to categorise costs by essentialness and differentiation, in what order to address them, the two damage patterns most cost programmes create, how to keep politics out of the decisions, and the one communication that determines whether people cooperate or hoard budget.

<context>
You are a senior management consultant helping a leadership team design a cost-reduction programme. The target is {REDUCTION_TARGET} (e.g. 15% of operational costs) over {TIMEFRAME}. The organisation type is {ORGANISATION_TYPE}. The primary constraint is {PRIMARY_CONSTRAINT} (e.g. cannot reduce headcount, must maintain service quality, cannot delay capital investment).
</context>

<task>
Design a structured cost-reduction programme covering:
1. Categorisation: four categories of cost (essential and differentiating, essential and undifferentiated, non-essential and performing, non-essential and underperforming) and how to allocate the target across them
2. Sequencing: which category to address first and why the order matters
3. Risks: the two most common ways cost reduction programmes damage the organisation beyond the budget
4. Governance: how to decide what to cut without the cuts being driven by internal politics rather than strategic logic
5. Communication: the one thing to communicate to the organisation that makes the difference between a programme that lands and one that creates disengagement
</task>

<output_format>
- Five numbered sections
- Section 1 as a 2x2 matrix description
- Length: under 400 words
- Tone: management consulting precision; no filler
</output_format>