Nearly all the chief executives in a new survey — 98% — say they're getting their ducks in a row for an impending economic downturn in the United States.

Companies are bracing for potential trouble ahead by lowering their advertising budgets, cutting costs and adapting to their customers' changing spending habits.

On the rare occasion a woman shatters that glass ceiling and makes it to the boardroom as chief executive officer, she still may have to contend with a...