The Well-Timed Strategy: Managing the Business Cycle for Competitive Advantage, by Peter Navarro (Wharton School Publishing, 272 pages, $27.99).

Well-run businesses like General Electric Co. manage to prosper during economic downturns. But being able to grow profits -- much less remain profitable -- can be considerably more challenging for companies in so-called cyclical industries that are dependent upon overall economic growth, such as chemical and automobile manufacturers.

Navarro, a business professor at the University of California, Irvine, illustrates how both recessionary and expansionary turning points in the economy can offer profit opportunities in different industries. Even though the book is light on the role that IT departments can play in helping to support businesses through economic swings, it's useful reading for IT managers who are determined to help support both cyclical and noncyclical businesses.