The collapse of financial titan Bear Stearns last week heightened concerns among executives across industries that the U.S. economy is in a recession. The mess on Wall Street has made it difficult for companies to get financing to do deals; slowed sales of cars, clothing, other consumer goods; and prompted managers to scuttle hiring plans and consider layoffs.

The worst thing business leaders can do, however, is panic, especially because the length and severity of a slowdown is impossible to predict. Here are some management lessons gleaned from recent events to help executives navigate successfully in coming months.

Seize opportunities while you can. That is what J.P. Morgan Chase Chief Executive James Dimon did when he and his senior investment bankers reached an agreement -- in just two days -- to acquire Bear Stearns for a mere $2 a share.

A number of other potential buyers, including private-equity investor Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. and Barclay PLC, considered acquiring Bear when they learned it was near collapse. Only the J.P. Morgan team, however, was able to put together a deal by the evening of March 16, the deadline the Federal Reserve had set in an effort to avert a bankruptcy filing by Bear and more financial turmoil. Mr. Dimon negotiated around the clock two weekends ago. He almost walked away at one point but clinched the deal after getting the Federal Reserve to agree to provide as much as $30 billion in financing for Bear's mortgage and securities and other nonliquid assets.

The urge is to become more cautious, but for executives, 'the best companies approach downturns as a chance to get ahead of competitors,' says Steve Schaubert, a senior partner at Bain. 'While rivals may be retreating, they purposefully and quickly find ways to gain market share: by improving customer service, investing in new products or improving their supply chain.'

Look overseas for growth. The weak dollar and continued growth in India, China and other emerging economics are a boon to small, and some big, U.S. companies with broad global reach. Cleveland-based Horizons, a maker of speciality metals and aluminum, expects overseas sales, which already account for 25% of its revenue, to double this year after also doubling in 2007. The company started expanding overseas five years ago -- first to Western Europe, Japan, Korea and Russia, then to Saudi Arabia, Dubai, Egypt and India.

'We'd be scrambling now if we weren't already global,' says Wayne Duignan, director of international sales.

It isn't too late for companies that don't yet have a toehold outside the U.S., he adds. Such companies need patience -- and help. 'If you're small, as we are, you can't do this entirely on your own,' he says.

To gain business in India, its fastest-growing market, Horizons is working with Indus International, a Cleveland-based consultant that has a network of Indian business contacts and employs Indian suppliers and distributors. Horizon also recently hired a consultant in France to find new customers throughout Western Europe. 'Our products are so cheap there now because of the dollar, we have a pricing advantage,' says Mr. Duignan.

Keep debt low. Cash is king as debt markets roil. 'Any company that is highly leveraged has a lot of reason to worry right now because when their debts come due, there's a real question about whether they can be rolled over,' says David Beim, a finance and economics professor at Columbia Business School.

Executives who have built up their companies' cash reserves, on the other hand, will have a cushion if the economy swings widely in coming quarters. They also will be best positioned to keep investing in new products, to hire talent and to take advantage of falling prices for deals.

One big reason executives at International Paper were able to acquire rival Weyerhaeuser's containerboard, packaging and recycling businesses last week was by having a balance sheet with low debt and strong cash flow. The deal also gave Weyerhaeuser $6 billion in cash for a business it wanted to exit. That should allow Weyerhaeuser's CEO Steve Rogal to expand the company's forest and building-materials businesses, which he sees as its strengths.

Get your resume on the street. Network if you're in a vulnerable industry, even if you haven't been told you're losing your job. 'There's a wholesale restructuring going on in financial services,' says Rob Sloan, U.S. head of executive recruiter Egon Zehnder's financial-services practice. 'Real-estate-related and investment-banking jobs are getting annihilated.'

Also, layoffs in the automobile and retail industries are expected to spread into the executive ranks. 'Top executives [are] trying to figure out what their business needs to look like in the future,' he adds.

Managers should feel prodded to consider alternatives to the companies they currently work for and even to the careers they have. 'It's the people over 40 who know only one discrete specialty and who have spent their entire careers at one company that's now in trouble who will have the hardest time finding new work,' says executive recruiter Pat Cook.

上周，金融巨头贝尔斯登公司(Bear Stearns)轰然倒下，美国各行业的人士不禁担忧，经济确已陷入衰退。华尔街的混乱局面让企业难以获得融资展开交易；汽车、服装以及其它消费品销售放慢的势头也促使企业管理人员纷纷撤销招聘计划，转而开始考虑裁员。

然而，这个时候对企业领导者来说，最糟的就是恐慌了，尤其是在经济减速的持续时间和严重程度都无法预测的情况下。以下是我们从近来发生的一些事件中收集到的管理素材，希望可以帮助企业高管顺利度过未来几个月的艰难时日。

尽你所能抓住机遇。这正是摩根大通(J.P. Morgan Chase)首席执行长詹姆斯•戴蒙(James Dimon)的做法。戴蒙和他的资深投资银行家团队在仅仅两天的时间里就达成了一项协议──以低至每股2美元的价格收购贝尔斯登。(摩根大通现已提高了对贝尔斯登的报价，详见本报报导《摩根大通加大筹码 贝尔斯登水涨船高》。)

其实，这背后还有很多潜在买家，包括私人资本运营公司Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.和巴克莱银行(Barclay PLC)等在得知贝尔斯登即将倒闭后都曾考虑过收购该公司。然而，只有摩根大通的管理层在3月16日晚间──即美国联邦储备委员会(Federal Reserve) 为避免贝尔斯登申请破产并进而引发更深层次的金融动荡所设定的最后期限──之前得以成功达成收购协议。早在半个月前，戴蒙就开始与有关各方就收购进行谈判。其间他也曾一度想放弃收购，不过，在Fed同意为贝尔斯登的抵押、证券及其它非流动性资产提供高达300亿美元的融资后，他最终达成了这笔交易。

广告贝恩公司(Bain)高级合伙人史蒂夫•肖伯特(Steve Schaubert)说，大家都迫切地感到需要更加谨慎行事，但是对高管层来说，最优秀的企业通常会把经济低迷当作超越竞争对手的一个良机。肖伯特说，虽然竞争对手可能会从市场上撤退，但是他们会很快目标明确地找到夺回市场占有率的途径：如改善客户服务，投资新产品，抑或是提高供应链的效率。

寻求海外增长。对于一些有着广泛全球触角的美国大公司来说，美元疲软及印度、中国及其它新兴市场持续增长都是极为有利的因素。总部位于克利夫兰的特种金属和铝材制造商Horizons便预计，今年其海外市场的销售收入将在2007年增长一倍的基础上再次翻番。目前，海外市场对该公司收入的贡献率已高达25%。Horizons 5年前开始拓展海外市场，先是西欧、日本、韩国和俄罗斯，接着是沙特阿拉伯、迪拜、埃及和印度。

Horizons负责国际销售的总监韦恩•杜格南(Wayne Duignan)表示，如果当初没涉足全球市场的话，我们现在就该忙得一团糟了。”

杜格南表示，对于那些尚未把触角伸向海外的美国公司来说，现在还为时不晚。这些企业需要耐心──还有帮助。他说，如果你的企业规模和我们一样都比较小，你是无法完全依靠单打独斗完成全球部署的。

为在其增长最迅速的印度市场获得业务，Horizons正在与克利夫兰当地的一家咨询公司Indus International展开合作。后者拥有良好的印度企业网络，而且还聘有印度供应商和分销商。Horizon最近还在法国聘请了一家咨询公司，帮助它在西欧地区寻找新客户。杜格南先生说，由于美元疲软，我们的产品在当地极具价格优势。

保持低负债。在债市动荡的时候，现金就是一切。哥伦比亚大学商学院(Columbia Business School)金融学和经济学教授大卫•贝姆(David Beim)表示，在目前形势下，任何一家高负债企业都有种种理由感到担忧，因为一旦债务到期，摆在他们面前的一个直接而严峻的问题就是还能不能获得延期。

另一方面，如果未来几个季度经济大幅波动，那些具备一定现金储备的企业所受到的冲击就会相对较小。这样的企业就能依靠手中的现金继续投资新产品，招募人才，并利用不断下跌的价格达成交易。

上周，国际纸业(International Paper)一举收购了其竞争对手惠好(Weyerhaeuser)的硬纸板、包装和再生业务，其中一个很大的原因就是国际纸业的资产负债状况良好，负债水平较低，现金流强劲。而通过该交易，惠好出售了一项其一直希望退出的业务，并获得了60亿美元现金，这样一来，首席执行长史蒂夫•罗格尔(Steve Rogal)就能拓展林业和建筑材料业务，而这正是罗格尔认为惠好具有优势的业务。

增强人脉。如果你身处一个易受经济周期影响的行业，即便你还没有被告知丢掉了饭碗，你也要增加社交活动，增强人脉。高管猎头公司Egon Zehnder的金融服务部门美国业务主管罗布•斯隆(Rob Sloan)表示，目前金融服务行业正在进行大规模的重组。房地产相关及投资银行职位都被无情地砍掉了。

此外，汽车和零售行业的裁员风预计也将波及管理岗位。斯隆说，高管人士都在揣测企业的未来。

鉴于眼下的形势，管理人员都不得不考虑另谋出路，看看除了他们目前效力的企业、甚至是他们所从事的职业，还有什么其它选择。从事猎头行业的帕特•库克(Pat Cook)说，如今，那些长期以来专注一个领域或一生都在一家公司工作的四十多岁的员工将陷入极大的困境，他们将面临寻找新工作的艰难时刻。