When companies talk about cost management, their focus typically is on slashing their current expenses. But in today’s digital era, cost management has taken on a new hue: It provides a strategic lever to generate savings that can be invested in driving growth. Christopher Ittner, who chairs the accounting department at Wharton, and recently co-authored a paper titled, “ Cost Management in the Digital Era , ” with Omar Aguilar, the global strategic cost transformation leader of Deloitte Consulting. Ittner says: “Using cost management as a strategic lever, as opposed to a defensive response, opens up new opportunities.” In a conversation with Knowledge at Wharton, Ittner discusses how companies can leverage digital technologies for cost management in a proactive way. An edited transcript of the conversation follows. Knowledge at Wharton : You write in your paper that cost management has become a competitive necessity.…