Corporate Executives

LAST Monday in Chicago, President Clinton moderated a conference on the "Workplace of the Future." The upbeat meeting, conceived by the departments of Labor and Commerce, celebrated companies and unions that thrive by "empowering workers," relying on "total quality management," and creating "new social contracts" at the workplace.But at the very moment the president was praising these virtuous corporate citizens, the IBM Corp., long a pioneer in cultivating smart and loyal "knowledge workers," was announcing it would lay off an additional 35,000 of its employees.

Corporate executives appear to be more knowledgeable about computer technology than ever, but they have also become more demanding and less forgiving, a survey has found.They believe information technologies are the key to competitive advantage. But they also say they have not got their money's worth.The survey, conducted by the computer industry newspaper Computerworld and Andersen Consulting, also found that 81 percent of top executives are using computers in their daily jobs, nearly double the percentage reported when the survey was first taken four years ago.More than 200 chief executives, chief operating officers and chief financial officers, representing a range of businesses, participated in the study, the results of which were published in Computerworld last week.

A decision due today could begin settling a question that has long pitted small shareholders against corporate executives: Should the value of stock options given to employees be subtracted from company earnings?The Financial Accounting Standards Board, a seven-member panel that sets accounting rules, is due to vote this morning on proposals that would make companies either subtract the value of the options from profits, as the FASB staffers want, or simply describe the options more clearly in earnings reports, as many executives prefer.

If it seems as if the fans in one of the sky boxes at the new stadium appear to be having a little more fun than the rest on Opening Day, they probably are.Stuffed between corporate executives and their clients, salesmen and their customers, and bosses and their employees, will be Burton L. Bank and 10 of his golfing buddies.The group is one of a handful of non-corporate groups that leased a luxury box.The Orioles have nearly sold out their "private suites," which have become important money makers for teams and are among the reasons a new stadium was built.

In the recession, high salaries and other compensation for corporate executives have become controversial. Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission ordered publicly owned companies to give shareholders the right to voice an opinion how much their executives are paid. Two Maryland companies, Bell Atlantic and Baltimore Gas and Electric Co., were among 10 major U.S. companies affected by the ruling.The Evening Sun would like to know if you think investors should have a say in the salaries for executives.

Washington -- A STRANGE thing happened on the road to the collapse of a major power in American capitalism. General Motors Chairman Robert C. Stempel, even as he announced the virtual gutting of his once-powerful company, gave his panacea for the future.Speaking to unbelieving employees via satellite on closed-circuit television, Stempel said that GM, once the greatest automotive company in the world, would now "run its business in an increasingly lean and mean . . . manner."A similar thing happened on the road to "competing" with the Japanese.

WASHINGTON -- Taxpayers will be paying the airfare for some of the nation's highest-paid executives during the Far East tour on which President Bush is bringing along 21 U.S. business leaders to help him "relentlessly pursue our mission to create jobs."Administration officials said yesterday that the business leaders will be flying free aboard Air Force One and its 747 backup plane on the Dec. 30-Jan. 10 trip that will take them to eight cities in Australia, Singapore, Korea and Japan.The White House typically does not calculate the cost of trips aboard government-owned aircraft.

To the rest of the country, Jim McKay is the man who held overnight vigil in an ABC broadcast booth during the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Olympics and the man who has traveled the wide world of sports for the past thirtysomething years.But to Maryland, and its horse racing community, Jim McKay is the man who brought a number of previously warring factions together for an event that in its first five years has made an impact both locally and nationally. In many ways, Jim McKay is the Maryland Million.

They say it's not always a good idea to mix business with pleasure, but a stockbroker with Alex. Brown and Sons believes he has hit upon a development concept that no one can fault.Jonathan T. Ginn, a stockbroker in the Easton office of Alex. Brown, has a contract to buy a 1,550-acre farm on the outskirts of Cecilton, on the Eastern Shore.He is working on plans to build a $100 million business center and members-only retreat for some of the nation's top corporate executives. It also would be a sports lover's paradise, with five "signature" golf courses and a large health and fitness center.

When women began moving up the corporate ladder into executive positions in the 1970s, some people said they'd never survive.But there are those who did. And these veterans have advice for women eager to know the secrets of success.Advertising: Adrienne Hall, vice chairwoman of Eisaman, Johns & Laws Advertising Agency in Los Angeles, says to be successful in corporate America you must "have competence, be productive and develop a comfort level with male colleagues at the top. If you can't do the latter, you'll be gone eventually."