The Los Angeles Times from Los Angeles, California • Page 18

WASHINGTON EDITION LOS ANGELES TIMES B6 WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14. 1994 FLANIG AN: Economies of Cuba and Haiti Working Mother 100 Eight California companies, three in Southern California, were included on this year's list of 100 best companies for working mothers, published in the October issue of Working Mother magazine. 1 Genentech, South San Francisco 2. G.T. Water Product, Moorpark 3.

Lucasfilm, San Rafael 4. Mattel, El Segundo 1 5. Morrison Foerster, San Francisco 6. Pacific Gas Electric, San Francisco 7. Patagonia, Ventura 8.

Silicon Graphics, Mountain View Three California companies were among 10 companies singled out as having unusually good pay parity for women. Percent of Percent emong fosters democracy. But in the Caribbean, we favor embargoes, and that has left us, in effect, taking responsibility for the staggering' economies of Cuba and Haiti. It's time to change. The United States would still have to help the Haitian and Cuban economies by buying their goods on a favorable basis, as it has done for years with Puerto Rico, Jamaica and other Caribbean nations.

But then, the United States will have to help on trade even if it occupies Haiti as now seems likely. Occupation could turn out badly, as it did before when the U.S. military ran Haiti from 1915 to 1934. Also, the United States ran the affairs of Cuba for more than half this century and made such a mess that Cuba turned to Castro and Soviet communism. A far better outcome would be that Cedras and his gang take a payoff and go into exile from Haiti, says Robert Manning, a former State Department official.

And it would be better also if Castro accepted what Rand's Gonzalez calls the grand bargain: Castro' leaves for exile with dignity, and the United States gives Cuba back the Guantanamo Bay naval base. That may sound unlikely, but it's no more extreme than the U.S. government trying to run the economies of Haiti and Cuba when it has trouble helping poor people in its own South Chicago, the South Bronx and South-Central Los MOMS: State Has 8 of Top 100 Companies Continued from B5 from the federal Family and Medical Leave Act. Toy maker Mattel Inc. of El Segundo and Ventura-based Patagonia, an outdoor-apparel firm, were also on the list.

Each was, cited last year. "Family-friendly workplaces are good for the bottom line," Labor Secretary Robert Reich said Tuesday. His department has an in-house day-care center. Working Mother chooses the companies based on pay arid opportunities for advancement for working mothers, child care and "family-friendly" benefits such as part-time jobs with benefits, job sharing and flexible hours. "We've discovered that quality of life is a much greater asset in securing people than high salaries," said George Lucas, maker of such hit movies as "American Graffiti" and the "Star Wars" trilogy.

On-site child-care facilities and flexible work schedules helped win his San Rafael, Lucas-film Ltd. a place on the list for the fourth consecutive year. Lucas, who also won the magazine's "Family Champion Award," said he was being recognized for "just doing, what one should be doing." Lucas, a single father of three, joked that by virtue of his juggling work, parent -teacher conferences and dinner, "I guess I qualify as a working mother." The Top 10 companies on the list are Barnett Banks Fel-Pro Glaxo John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance IBM, Johnson Johnson, Lancaster Laboratories NationsBank and Xerox Corp. Company workforce highest-paid Avon (N.Y.) i 74 76 Bayfront Medical (Fla.) 77 78 Ben Jerry's (Vt.) 40 47 Beth Israel of Boston 67 75 G.T. Water Products 46 50 Lucasfilm 301 52 Miami Herald (Fla.) 39 40 Patagonia 57 57 Riverside Methodist (Ohio) 79 85 Seattle Times (Wash.) 33 37 European nation 90 miles from Key West, Fla.

But business people may be overlooking explosive political dangers, says Edward Gonzalez, a Cuba expert at Rand Corp. Transition won't be easy. There is no leadership group no Lech Walesa as in Poland to easily succeed Fidel Castro and his regime, Gonzalez notes. He fears civil war will erupt. Yet Gonzalez argues against lifting the U.S.

embargo now. Easier commerce would only help Castro and his hard-line henchmen, he says. It is the same argument that has persuaded the United States to tighten the embargo on Haiti in hopes of driving Gen. Raoul Cedras and his military regime from power. But in both Haiti and Cuba, embargoes have only reinforced the strongmen.

In Haiti, the black market is flourishing, with the military taking a cut and enjoying the contraband. In Cuba, as was the case in the old Soviet Union, the government runs a type of black -market racket in stores that sell only for dollars. Castro and his henchmen remain well fed; only the boat people look skinny. The solution is to open the economies as much as possible, lift embargoes and let the commerce develop, as U.S. policy has recently done in Vietnam.

In fact, U.S. policy from Russia to China to North Korea everywhere except Haiti and Cuba holds that economic change improves lives and any alternate plan would have to achieve equal or better emissions reductions to be approved. A plan proposed by auto makers was rejected last year by the states' commission, which said it did not reduce pollution enough to allow the states to satisfy the Clean Air Act. Like California, the Northeast states must present air pollution control plans to the EPA by Nov. 15.

As part of these larger plans which include pollution sources besides vehicles the EPA must approve the current or an alternative proposal from the Northeast-em states and the District of Columbia by Nov. 10. "If the EPA adopts the Ozone Transport Commission petition as we hope, it would dramatically lUincrease the for electric nation' said" Mike', Gage, president of Calstart, the public-private consortium attempting to foster an advanced transportation industry in California. While the state represents 11 to 12 of the national vehicle market. Gage noted, the Ozone Transport Commission region is roughly 25 of the market.

Continued from B5 and sporting goods. But all departed when the embargo was imposed. In any case, Aristide the elected president whom U.S. troops may shortly restore to office bitterly denounced U.S. business people as "bloodsuckers" for paying $3 a day.

Sure, that sounds like starvation wages, but it was three times the economy's overall income per person. Cuba, after 35 years of totalitarian rule and the collapse of the Soviet Union, is also in wretched shape output at roughly 45 of what it was in 1989, when the Berlin Wall fell. It is difficult to accurately assess the economy because the Cuban peso no longer has real purchasing power, and most goods are available only for U.S. dollars in special shops. The dollars come from Cuban exile relatives in Florida, but money from relatives may start coming in by way of Spain or Mexico now that the United States has imposed a ban on dollar transfers.

In contrast to the Haitian situation, U.S. and foreign companies are clamoring to get into Cuba. A British trade delegation is in Havana this week. Businesses are attracted by the educational levels of the Cuban population "everybody has nine grades of schooling," says Andrew Zimbalist, an economist and Cuba expert at Smith College. Thus, foreign investors see Cuba as a kind of skilled East EMISSIONS Continued from BS Tuesday's announcement came despite strong opposition from big auto makers, which are pushing to build a separate low-emissions car that would be subject to less stringent pollution standards and be sold in all states besides California.

They argue that virtually the same cuts in pollution in the Northeast can be achieved far more cheaply under their plan. "We're disappointed," said Jason Vines, a spokesman for the American Automobile Manufacturers Assn. "But if there is any glimmer of hope, the EPA said discussions will continue on an alternative proposal and that's ours, and it just happens to be better one." But environmentalists had threatened to abandon the EPA negotiations if the agency failed to make by Tuesday the procedural move to declare that it intends to accept the states' proposal. EPA officials and the states-represented by the Ozone Transport Commission have said that ENTERTAINMENT this information," said Judsen Cul-breth, editor in chief. Ten companies, including the Southland's G.T.

Water Products and Patagonia, were recognized for gender pay parity. Women make up 46 of the work force at G.T. Water Products and 50 of the highest-paid employees. Similarly, Patagonia's work force is 57 female, and women constitute 57 of its highest-paid workers. At cosmetics maker Avon, 74 of the work force and 76 of the highest-paid employees are women, including the president, general counsel and chief financial officer of the company's U.S.

division. The largest company listed is General Motors, which returned to the list after a five-year absence. Last year the auto maker added three child-care centers serving more than 600 children and introduced referral services for child care and elder care. The list also reflects the changing face of American corporate management. "Women not only enjoy more child-care options and flexible work schedules than ever before; they've made the most notable advance into management since the magazine first started tracking Gary Schlossberg said the lower-than-expected consumer rate would allow the Fed to delay raising interest rates again when it meets Sept.

27. The following meeting is set for mid -November. 'The Fed will wait to see how the earlier increases will affect the economy first," Schlossberg said. Energy prices increased 1.4, largely due to the 3.7 rise in gasoline prices, their biggest jump since a 4.3 increase last October. Another large jump in coffee prices accounted for most of the 0.3 increase in food prices.

Because of worldwide shortages and a freeze in Brazil, coffee prices rose 22 in August on top of July's record increase of 22.4. Clothing prices were down 1 BMG Picks ROSENER Continued from B5 ments. This kind of organization is quite different, Wood says, from the multimillion-dollar retail loan portfolio she used to manage at Mellon Bank in Pittsburgh. She has moved away from the more traditional leadership style she previously used one in which control and evaluation were based on numbers of hours worked, direct supervision, fitting in and top-down decision making. The message, then, is that managing linkages be they the result of how organizations are structured or the values that drive a firm requires leaders to, control, ance new ways, it also means snaring responsibility and reve nues so there are multiple winners.

For executives most familiar with competition as a zero-sum game, becoming a linking leader may pose a significant challenge. Judy B. Rosener is a member of the Times Board of Advisers after falling 0.4 in July, which the government said was largely due to end-of-season sales and low price increases for fall and winter clothing. Johnson said factors such as import prices, industrial prices and employment rates will probably push up consumer inflation in the months to come, raising it to 4 by early next year. Meanwhile, the Commerce Department also reported Tuesday that the U.S.

trade deficit jumped in the April-June quarter to its highest level in more than six years, climbing to $37 billion. The trade deficit, which measures America's international transactions, was up 14.6 from a first-quarter deficit of $32.3 billion. Zelnick to Run North American Operations Media: The move is expected to accelerate the German firm's expansion into the movie business. quired by Turner Broadcasting System. Hollywood executives expect BMG to build its movie business through acquisitions rather than the bottom-up approach of its fellow European entertainment conglomerate, Po-lyGram.

Zelnick is also expected to actively expand BMG's interactive media business. "He'll be their mergers and acquisitions guy. He's a great strategic thinker," one executive said. Zelnick will also oversee the company's music operations, the weakest link of which has been RCA. Among his first tasks will be finding a new head for the label.

RCA President Joe Galante plans to return to the company's Nashville operation. Zelnick is unlikely to become directly involved in BMG's crown jewel, Arista Records, led by founder and record industry legend Clive Davis. Davis is said to be close to renewing his contract for $35 million over five years, with a possible $15-million performance bonus. Under his contract, Davis Century Fox, was hired in June, 1993, as chief executive of interactive software developer Crystal Dynamics in Palo Alto. He was also a consultant to BMG, where he has developed a close working relationship with BMG Entertainment Chairman Michael Dor-nemann.

Zelnick assumes his new job in New York on Jan. 2. Zelnick's strategy for expanding BMG into the movie business isn't likely to take shape for a while. In separate interviews, both Zelnick and Dornemann said it would be premature to discuss strategy. Dornemann insisted that BMG is under no time pressure to move ahead, though he acknowledged that Zelnick will help the company develop its strategy "in a more focused way." BMG's name has frequently surfaced as a prospective buyer for such struggling distributors as Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Orion Pictures.

BMG also waS reportedly in talks to acquire New Line Cinema last year before the independent company was ac reports to an Arista board that will now include Zelnick. In an interview, BMG Chairman Dornemann said that while RCA "has to get more movement" in expanding its market share, the goal with Arista will be to "leave it as it is. It has the best people running it." Crystal Dynamics initially placed its bets heavily on developing titles for the much-hyped 3DO game machine, which is still Struggling to gain a meaningful foothold in the interactive market. Dataquest multimedia analyst Bruce Ryon credits Zelnick with moving Crystal Dynamics away from its attachment to 3DO, attracting investors and raising its profile in a crowded field of competitors. Zelnick's leaving after just 15 months doesn't bode well for the company, he added.

Zelnick, who will remain a director and shareholder of Crystal' Dynamics, said his move reflects his desire to take advantage of a new opportunity. PRICES Continued from B5 Last Friday, the government reported that wholesale prices jumped 0.6 in August, the highest such increase in nearly four years. But Johnson noted that consumer prices did not reflect the wholesale price increases, largely because consumers won't tolerate price increases. "It's not easy for retailers to pass along the increases to consumers," Johnson said. Most financial experts predicted at least a 0.4 gain or higher in the consumer price index, but falling clothing prices helped offset food and energy increases, according to the report.

The consumer price increases were the same as those in June and July, keeping the consumer inflation rate at 2.9 through the first eight months, up only slightly from last year's figure of 2.7. Wells Fargo Co. economist Merger of Ralphs, Food 4 Less Chains Delayed Pending Shareholder Vote By GEORGE WHITE TIMES STAFF WRITER An expected agreement to merge Ralphs Grocery Co. with Food 4 Less Supermarkets was delayed as the companies' representatives continued to seek the approval of Ralphs shareholders on Tuesday. The boards of directors of Ralphs and Food 4 Less Supermarkets operator of Alpha Beta, Boys, Viva and the Food 4 Less warehouse stores approved the merger on Friday and the deal is to be finalized if shareholders agree.

Yucaipa a Los Angeles-based firm that controls Food 4 Less Supermarkets, has negotiated a deal with DeBartolo which has controlling interest of Ralphs. The companies had expected to reach an agreement Tuesday. They would not comment on the status of talks with Ralphs shareholders. Besides DeBartolo the shareholders are Toronto-based Camdev Properties, Bank of Montreal, Paris -based Banque Paribas, Cincinnati -based Federated Department Stores and the affiliated Federated Stores, Inc. The companies expect to merge their operations in November or December.

Yucaipa would convert all of its Alpha Beta, Boys and Viva markets to either Ralphs or Food 4 Less warehouse stores, sources have said. Also, 10 to 30 of the 167 Ralphs stores would be converted to Food 4 Less warehouse stores, sources have said. By JAMES BATES TIMES STAFF WRITER Former studio executive-turned-Silicon Valley entrepreneur Strauss Zelnick was named to run the North American entertainment operations of Bertelsmann Music Group on Tuesday, a move likely to accelerate the German media giant's long-anticipated expansion into Hollywood. With his appointment as president and chief executive of BMG Entertainment North America, Zelnick will also take responsibility for revamping BMG's troubled RCA Records operation. Zelnick, 37, former president of 20th Iger Said Ready to Move Up at Capital CitieABC terms of advertising sales for its fall programming, with hits such as "Home Improvement" and "Ro-seanne." The 43-year-old Iger, who was named to head the television network in 1993, is given high marks Sources cautioned that the board could wait until its next meeting in December to make the executive appointments Kissinger to Advise Boards of MGM, Credit Lyonnais By JAMES BATES TIMES STAFF WRITER Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer used to boast that it had "more stars than there are in heaven." Now it has almost as many media stars serving as advisers.

Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger on Tuesday was named a consultant to the boards of both MGM and parent Credit Lyonnais. He joins such luminaries as director Francis Ford Coppola, previously named to MGM's board, and Creative Artists Agency Chairman Michael S. Ovitz, who was retained by Credit Lyonnais last year to advise it on what to do with MGM. The specifics of what Kissinger now chairman of the Kissinger Associates consulting firm will do for the companies aren't clear. MGM and Credit Lyonnais said in a statement that they plan to tap his insight into global economic issues.

His renowned statesmanship may also be helpful. Peace has rarely been at hand in recent years at the venerable studio, which Credit Lyonnais seized in 1992 when former owner Giancarlo Parretti defaulted on his loans. The bank is aiming to sell the studio, which hasn't had a major hit in three years, by 1997. A new slate of pictures developed by its year-old management team, led by former Paramount Pictures Chairman Frank Mancuso, is scheduled to premiere during the upcoming holiday season. not a surprise within ABC.

The management has been very pleased with the job Bob has done." Iger, who joined ABC as a studio supervisor in New York in 1974, became a programming executive at ABC Sports before being named executive vice president of the television group in 1988. He was named president of the ABC entertainment division on the West Coast before being joining Capital Cities management in New York, The 42-year-old Westin, who came to ABC as corporate counsel in 1991, has been working with West Coast producers in the development of in-house ABC programming, an area that is expected to grow at all three broadcast networks. ABC's in-house unit developed nine pilots for the upcoming season, seven for ABC and two for CBS. By JANE HALL TIMES STAFF WRITER NEW YORK Sources are confirming reports that Robert Iger, president of ABC Television Network Group, will soon be named president and chief operating officer of Capital CitiesABC, with the promotion possibly coming as early as the Capital Cities ABC board meeting next week. David Westin, president of production for the network group, would be named to succeed Iger as head of the network, sources say.

The promotion would also place Iger in line to succeed the 69-year-old Capital Cities ABC Chairman Thomas S. Murphy when he retires. Sources cautioned that the board could wait until its next meeting in December to make the executive appointments, but said that it is likely that the changes will come at this month's meeting. ABC is enjoying a record year in for his management, programming and financial skills. There hid been some speculation on Wall Street about the line of succession at Capital Cities ABC since longtime executive Daniel Burke retired as president in February.

But, said one executive, "this is.