‘To cut corners’ means to do something badly or cheaply.
Examples:
“They really cut corners when they built this bathroom; the shower is leaking.”
Or
“The company is known to cut corners. This means that they import all of their products instead of making it.”
The Origins
The idiom has been used since the 1800s. It is related to rounding a corner instead of taking the proper route. This shortened the distance from one end to another.