The Borderless CEO
Only last October, The Economist asked rudely, "Lakshmi who?" Five months later, there was Lakshmi Mittal, chairman and CEO of Mittal Steel Company, arriving at No. 3 on the Forbes magazine list of the world’s billionaires, pictured next to the pool of his $100 million London mansion, neighbor to Kensington Palace on one side and the home of the Sultan of Brunei on the other. His net worth was $25 billion, a jump of $18.8 billion in the previous 12 months based on the acquisition of International Steel Group. And that‘s just the rock star side of things.

Gaining Altitude
The Aerospace Industry Attempts a Recovery By Mark Ingebretsen

What's It Worth to You?
by Rebecca Rolfes & Vicki Powers

Custom-Made
For many metals companies, there are few greater headaches than choosing and implementing enterprise resource planning software. What happens between the promise of ERP and the wide-awake reality? by Steven B. Weiner

Advocacy

International Scorecard
Metals companies are growing increasingly globalized. As a result, it is essential to stay in tune with rules set by international organizations that affect the cost of doing business. by Susan Ladika

Research

Executive Chartbook: How Do You Match Up?
A newly revamped Executive Chart Book gives metals executives-even those from privately held companies-a way to benchmark their own performance and to inform decisions based on historical industry trends. by David Landis

Education

What Happens When You Need to Know Now?
With developing technologies and the global convergence of new ideas, executive education can be essential. by Eva Dienel

Guest Column

Active Budgeting
by Ram Charan

Product Spotlight

Overhead Cranes
When choosing an overhead crane manufacturer, metals service centers look for the highest standards of manufacturing, coupled with durability, dependability and ease of use. With those factors in mind, Forward presents a sampling of popular manufacturers.