When cash is tight, which business activities should rank among a company’s top spending priorities? Finance executives around the world are mostly in agreement that investment in IT and employee benefits are worthy expenditures, according to a recent survey conducted by CFO Research Services on behalf of American Express Corp., but some notable regional differences emerge when it comes to discretionary items like R&D, green initiatives, and advertising. Travel was viewed as particularly expendable, although there are certainly many ways to reduce that cost without cutting it outright (see “Think Small“).