Looking forward to recovery┬áIn an economic downturn, forward-looking executives introduce strategies for survival, but also prepare the business to lead during the recovery, says Rick Burris, Principal, Oliver Wight Americas. Stressful times create an environment of great risk but also of great opportunity. Economic downturns have always produced a winnowing out of weak businesses and ineffective executive teamsÔÇöbut they donÔÇÖt last forever.

Six sigma master black belt David Lengacher warns about a common oversight in change management programs. Managers must address beliefs and behavior, he says, not culture. Browse the business management section at your local bookstore and you will find many top selling management books proclaiming that all measures of performance should be directly traceable to the objectives of the organization. It is hard to argue with this, but it is often overemphasized to the degree that it can cause significant organizational side effects.

The Florida Department of Transportation is getting a rare glimpse into the world of vertical construction, thanks to its lynchpin role in the Miami Intermodal Center. Keith Regan details the lessons learned and how theyÔÇÖll pay off down the road. By any measure, the Miami Intermodal Center (MIC) is an ambitious project. It has been in the planning stages in some form since the late 1980s, when county officials recognized that creating a smoother transition into and out of Miami International Airport could have enormous economic benefits.

Tens of thousands of anxious workers in Ontario's auto industry will be off the job during the next few months as the once-mighty auto-giant General Motors today announced plans to shut down virtually all of its North American plants for January.   Company and union officials confirmed yesterday additional production cuts for December and the first few months of next year that will hit every assembly plant in Ontario.  Plunging sales in the US continue to hammer production in Canada.

Despite the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passing a similar bill on Wednesday night, the Senate on Thursday night failed to rally the 60 votes needed to bail-out General Motors and Chrysler, devastating world markets and threatening to bring more trouble to the global economy.   "I dread looking at Wall Street tomorrow," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid on the Senate floor in Washington last night.

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan with a group of US private-equity firms had agreed to buy BCE in June 2007 for $34.8 billion in Canadian dollars, but last night accounting firm KPMG said the company had too much debt, causing the biggest takeover in CanadaÔÇÖs history to collapse on the day it was supposed to have been completed.┬á The acquisition was terminated by the purchasing group, which also includes Madison Dearborn Partners, Providence Equity Partners, and Merrill Lynch & Co., after auditor KPMG said it would leave CanadaÔÇÖs largest phone company insolvent.

Congress will vote as early as today on a $15 billion plan Democrats reached with the Bush administration to keep the Big Three afloat while forcing them to restructure. It is said that President George W. Bush wants strict conditions attached to any agreement to bail out the firms. This includes an appointment of a ÔÇ£Car CzarÔÇØ who will dictate how the companies are managed to ensure the money is accompanied by sound financial recovery plans. Approval of a bailout for General Motors and Chrysler LLC would put automakers under U.S.

Sony, maker of the Walkman portable player and PlayStation 3 game console, announced today that it is embarking on a series of measures to strengthen its corporate structure and increase profitability in light of the current global economic condition.   The news came as Japan stated its economy had shrunk between July and September by much more than initially expected, and a slew of similar stories from Japanese manufacturers facing decreases in demand had been hitting the airwaves.

Dow Chemical today announced that it would shed 5,000 full time jobs, and take a raft of other cost cutting measures, as it accelerates its transformational strategy to reflect current economic conditions.

US employers cut payrolls by 533,000 in November, the biggest monthly cut in 35 years, bringing the US unemployment rate to a 15-year high of 6.7 percent, and the total number of jobs eliminated this year to 1.9 million.┬á The new statistics have handed Americans more grim news right before the holidays, and has fueled fears that the worldÔÇÖs largest economy is positioned for a deep, long downturn. ┬á ÔÇ£You canÔÇÖt get much uglier than this,ÔÇØ said Richard Yamarone at Argus Research in New York.