Cut corners — someone in charge originally needs to be disciplined (9)
I believe the answer is:
economise
'cut' is the definition.
Although both the answer and definition are verbs in their base form, I don't see how they can define each other.
I don't understand the remainder of the clue.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for economise that I've seen before include "budget" , "Keep down costs" , "cut services" , "Make savings" , "save?" .)