Olayan Descon is continuing to expand its industrial construction and maintenance capabilities to support the industrialisation of Saudi Arabia. Muhammad Naveed talks to Gay Sutton about the latest move: to provide end-to-end engineering, procurement and construction services.

Sometimes success brings problems rather than rewards; but as Alan Swaby learns, the resourceful manager will find ways of solving them.

India’s industries continue to march along; and Jeff Daniel learns about one of the companies supporting this expansion.

In 1999, two industrial giants joined forces to create a truly enormous industrial giant that had, at the time, over 120,000 employees in just about every corner of the globe.

Tarun Kapoor, managing director of Himachal Pradesh Power Corporation Limited (HPPCL), talks to Jayne Flannery about the social and environmental imperatives of sustainable power generation within the state.

Commercial director of Haw & Inglis Civil Engineering Francis Chemaly tells Jane Bordenave how the company has developed over the past 12 months and what the future has in store.

Cape Town-based Haw & Inglis is one of South Africa’s foremost civil engineering firms, with 25 years of experience in the field. The company has particular expertise in road and highway construction and has been instrumental in developing the country’s infrastructure.

Cluff Gold brought two gold mines to production during 2008 and is now poised to develop a third, much larger prospect. Chairman Algy Cluff talks to Gay Sutton about the rocky road to success.

Russia and Norway ended a 40-year dispute yesterday when they signed an Arctic border treaty, opening up the region to offshore oil and gas development.

Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev and Jens Stoltenberg, the premier of Norway, attended the signing in Murmansk, a Russian Barents Sea port near the Norwegian border.

The disputed territory in the Barents Sea covered 175,000 square kilometres—roughly half the size of Germany—between the Novaya Zemlya archipelago on the Russian side and the Svlabard archipelago on the Norwegian side.

Honeywell today announced it has completed its acquisition of Sperian Protection for approximately $1.4 billion, including the assumption of net debt.

Sperian Protection is a leading provider of personal protective equipment (PPE), and will be combined within Honeywell's Automation and Control Solutions' Life Safety business.

London-based miner Rio Tinto has said it will spend £518 million expanding its diamond operations.

The mining group’s diamond business is often overlooked, due to the success of its primary iron ore, copper and coal operations. However, its diamond unit is the third-largest in the world behind industry leaders De Beers and Alrosa.

Rio Tinto’s diamond division is based on three mines, including Argyle in the north-western desert area of Australia.

Although not strictly a Masters degree, the Master of Business Administration (MBA) is considered by many to be a must-have for a top level career in business.

As the number of schools offering MBAs has grown, a ranking system has developed around them, to give students guidance on the best colleges to apply for, and to help potential employers to target their recruitment efforts.