THE TIMES 100 : THE BEST PERFORMING COMPANIES IN CALIFORNIA : THE HUMAN FACTOR : Achieving More With Fewer People : Setting Productivity Goals Helps Many Companies Get More Out of Their Workers

How does a Tustin outfit become the most productive computer products company in California? “We beat everybody with whips,” jokes Ted James, investor relations manager of CMS Enhancements, where each employee generated an average of $505,000 in revenue last year.

Actually, the company offers some generous stock and cash bonuses as incentives for people to excel. CMS, which posted $151.5 million in sales for 1988, rewards productive employees with quarterly bonuses that can equal up to half their annual salaries.

Employees at every level are expected to set their own quarterly performance goals. Staffers exceeding their personal goals can earn 100 to 1,500 shares of CMS stock every three months. No small reward, considering that the stock has been selling for about $3.50 a share in recent weeks.

“We have provided everybody with an environment to do the most they can and become all they can be,” says President Jim Farooquee, the 35-year-old native of Pakistan who founded the manufacturer of mass data storage devices and accessories six years ago in a garage with three other men.

Monetary incentives aren’t the only route to a highly productive work force. Technology helps. Safeguard Health Enterprises, which tops the list of the most productive health services firms in California, and American President Cos., the Oakland-based shipping company, are among those that attribute high productivity to reliance on computers and automation.

Ronald I. Brendzel, Safeguard’s senior vice president, said the company prefers to be understaffed rather than overstaffed--and so relies heavily on computers to handle membership services and monitor the quality of care. Anaheim-based Safeguard uses the computers to help keep track of the 830,000 people for which it provides dental care in 13 states, including patients at 21 dental offices it owns in California. “If you don’t have the people, you have to use the computers more,” Brendzel said.

The result: Safeguard’s 350 employees each generated about $193,000 in revenue last year. Brendzel said Safeguard also works closely with the dentists it hires to make sure their offices are operating as productively as possible. “If our providers are not motivated properly, all of the work we do with computers is superfluous,” said Brendzel. “And, after all these years, we know how to make a dental office successful.”

American President Cos. credits its employees’ high productivity largely to a sophisticated computer system designed to keep track of all container shipments as well as internal company operations.

Last year, the company spent about $90 million upgrading its computer and automation systems, according to Richard L. Hill, senior vice president of corporate development. By investing in the best technology, he said, the company has increased its business about 22% per year but has only increased employment by about 10%. American President’s 4,508 employees each generated about $473,000 in revenues, according to a productivity study conducted by MZ Group of San Francisco.

American President’s computer system not only keeps track of every shipment but also permits customers to call in by computer or touch-tone phone and receive information about their shipments.

“We serve people who demand a higher level of service,” said Hill.

Another extremely productive firm is J. M. Peters Co., a Newport Beach home builder. The company, which sold 1,223 homes in Southern California last year, ranked as the most productive real estate development company.

J. M. Peters’ 200 employees each generated an average of $2 million in revenue, more than twice as much as the second-ranked firm in its category.

“Jim Peters demands that each employee have a commitment to quality in the final product,” said investor relations director Brian Theriot. “There is not much delegating away the concept of quality.”

Theriot said the company, which is building 4,500 homes, offers a generous bonus plan based on individual performance, with cash awards given to top performers every March. “Jim Peters compensates people for work above and beyond the call of duty,” Theriot said.

The state’s most productive building materials company is Calmat, whose 3,294 employees generated an average of $200,000 in revenue last year. The company was formed in 1984 from two construction giants, Conrock and California Portland Cement.

“I attribute our productivity to the vibrant California markets we serve, the attention paid to all corporate costs, continuing efforts to increase profit margins and a motivated and involved employee group, most of whom are shareholders,” said A. Frederick Gerstell, Calmat’s president and chief executive.

In Hollywood, Carolco Pictures leads the list of most productive entertainment companies. Carolco’s 145 employees generated an average of $1.3 million in revenue each last year.

“We are a lean company with no excess baggage,” said Thomas K. Levine, vice president of corporate development.

Founded by two film producers, Carolco is best known for producing the “Rambo” adventure films starring Sylvester Stallone. “Rambo III” was released last year, and the next Rambo sequel is due out in 1990, Levine said. The company also produced the films “Red Heat” and “Angel Heart.”

For the second year, the state’s most productive public company on The Times’ list, with $10.8 million in revenue per employee, was International Lease Finance Corp. of Beverly Hills, which leases and sells commercial jets to domestic and international airlines.

“Our business has been booming incredibly,” said Louis L. Gonda, executive vice president. “The airline industry is in quite a healthy state.”

The biggest change in the past year at International Lease was the addition of six staff members--today it employs 22 people.

TOP 100 EMPLOYERS

Companies ranked by number of workers worldwide and in California.

Total California % of total Rank Company employ. employ. employ. 1 Rockwell Intl. 112,160 37,356 33.3 2 Beverly Enterp. 108,334 10,786 10.0 3 Hewlett-Packard 87,000 25,000 28.7 4 Lockheed 86,800 49,859 57.4 5 Natl. Medical Ent. 73,000 18,700 25.6 6 Pacific Telesis 69,737 67,506 96.8 7 BankAmerica 63,713 39,500 62.0 8 Litton Indust. 55,000 10,000 18.2 9 Chevron 53,675 19,500 36.3 10 Oxy Petroleum 52,500 990 1.9 11 Wickes Cos. 45,000 9,518 21.2 12 Northrop 44,600 34,600 77.6 13 Teledyne 43,800 13,000 29.7 14 Castle & Cooke Inc. 41,656 8,532 20.5 15 Security Pacific 41,400 25,000 60.4 16 Amer. Med. Intl. 41,000 2,511 6.1 17 Pacific Enterp. 40,538 25,721 63.4 18 Walt Disney Co. 39,000 11,182 28.7 19 National Semi. 37,000 6,500 17.6 20 First Interstate 36,908 11,785 31.9 21 Carter Hawley Hale 35,000 24,000 68.6 22 Hilton Hotels 35,000 9,500 27.1 23 Vons Cos. 35,000 33,500 95.7 24 Amer. Bldg. Maint. 32,000 12,000 37.5 25 Seagate Tech. 30,000 3,381 11.3 26 Con. Freightways 29,000 4,390 15.1 27 Times Mirror 28,574 12,292 43.0 28 Atlantic Richfield 26,800 5,026 18.8 29 PG&E; 26,600 26,600 100.0 30 Collins Foods Intl. 21,350 10,500 49.2 31 Intel Corp. 20,000 5,000 25.0 32 Wells Fargo & Co. 20,000 19,800 99.0 33 Computer Sciences 19,800 3,500 17.7 34 Gap Inc. 19,800 NA NA 35 Unocal Corp. 18,235 6,728 36.9 36 Fluor Corp. 17,876 2,500 14.0 37 MCA Inc. 17,700 6,710 37.9 38 SCEcorp 17,645 17,125 97.1 39 Transamerica 17,400 8,000 46.0 40 Carl Karcher Ent. 15,500 11,739 75.7 41 Adv. Micro Devices 14,800 4,500 30.4 42 McKesson Corp. 14,500 3,500 24.1 43 Great Western Fin. 12,700 8,606 67.8 44 House of Fabrics 12,000 3,478 29.0 45 Varian Associates 11,800 7,000 59.3 46 H.F. Ahmanson 11,568 7,794 67.4 47 Avery International 11,514 2,260 19.6 48 Intermark Inc. 11,360 2,620 23.1 49 Firemans Fund 11,083 4,557 41.1 50 Price Co. 11,077 7,087 64.0 51 Longs Drug Stores 11,063 8,494 76.8 52 Mattel Inc. 11,000 1,600 14.5 53 Rohr Industries 11,000 9,600 87.3 54 Raychem Corp. 10,909 4,295 39.4 55 Apple Computer 10,800 7,000 64.8 56 Fleetwood Enterp. 10,500 2,695 25.7 57 Caesars World 10,024 70 0.7 58 Sizzler 9,800 4,376 44.7 59 Syntex Corp. 9,600 4,740 49.4 60 Applied Magnetics 9,439 1,400 14.8 61 Tandem 8,624 4,276 49.6 62 Union Bank 8,502 8,435 99.2 63 Amdahl Corp. 8,200 4,920 60.0 64 Glenfed Inc. 7,700 7,700 100.0 65 Maxxam Inc. 7,500 2,900 38.7 66 Beckman Instr. 7,500 2,800 37.3 67 Jacobs Engineering 7,220 580 8.0 68 Sun Microsystems 7,090 5,230 73.8 69 Potlatch Corp. 7,000 100 1.4 70 Henley Group 6,700 670 10.0 71 Western Digital 6,582 2,300 34.9 72 Shaklee Corp. 6,500 1,800 27.7 73 Tiger International 6,500 2,500 38.5 74 CalFed Inc. 6,356 5,464 86.0 75 Fisher Scientific 6,350 1,060 16.7 76 Community Psych. 6,319 2,172 34.4 77 First American Fin. 6,000 3,100 51.7 78 Rykoff-Sexton Inc. 6,000 1,875 31.3 79 Guy F. Atkinson 5,949 791 13.3 80 Cooper Cos. 5,470 1,200 21.9 81 McClatchy 5,272 3,870 73.4 82 Ross Stores Inc. 5,200 2,250 43.3 83 Summit Health 5,200 4,650 89.4 84 National Education 5,114 693 13.6 85 Clorox Co. 5,100 1,500 29.4 86 HomeFed Corp. 5,038 4,975 98.7 87 FHP International 4,800 3,325 69.3 88 San Diego G&E; 4,788 4,690 98.0 89 Nu-Med Inc. 4,700 1,400 29.8 90 Pic ‘N Save 4,600 2,600 56.5 91 American Pres. Cos. 4,508 1,304 28.9 92 Comprehensv. Care 4,500 1,200 26.7 93 MAI Basic Four 4,473 1,375 30.7 94 Landmark Land Co. 4,225 2,100 49.7 95 Wyse Technology 4,200 800 19.0 96 Transcon Inc. 4,100 600 14.6 97 Whittaker Corp. 4,000 1,500 37.5 98 Virco Manufacturing 3,900 700 17.9 99 Atari Corp. 3,822 204 5.3 100 Cubic Corp. 3,800 2,700 71.1

MOST PRODUCTIVE EMPLOYEES

Top companies in each industry ranked by revenue per employee.

Revenue/ Employee Industry/Company ($000s) Aerospace & Defense TCI International Inc. 132.8 Northrop Corp. 130.0 Lockheed Corp. 122.0 Average for industry group 100.29 Banking Wells Fargo & Co. 242.7 Imperial Bancorp. 227.2 Sumitomo 211.3 Average for industry group 162.02 Computer Products CMS Enhancements Inc. 505.0 Sigma Designs Inc. 442.6 Apple Computer Inc. 377.0 Average for industry group 163.48 Computer Software Adobe Systems Inc. 281.1 Mediagenic 228.2 Oracle Systems Corp. 223.8 Average for industry group 189.26 Drugs & Pharmaceuticals SPI Pharmaceuticals Inc. 387.6 Herbalife International Inc. 332.6 P. Leiner Nutritional Prods. 186.0 Average for industry group 179.27 Energy Tosco Corp. 1,339.3 Atlantic Richfield Co. 657.7 Unocal Corp. 485.5 Average for industry group 664.36 Entertainment Carolco Pictures Inc. 1,309.9 New World Entertainment 1,008.6 MGM/UA Communications 876.5 Average for industry group 351.36 Financial Services Foothill Group Inc. 470.6 Countrywide Credit Ind. Inc. 135.8 Average for industry group 303.21 Food & Beverages Commercial International 308.9 Erly Industries 268.9 Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream 235.8 Average for industry group 192.40 Health Services Safeguard Health 193.6 FHP International Corp. 104.9 American Medical Intl. 75.9 Average for industry group 74.00 Insurance First Executive Corp. 2,903.5 Kaufman & Broad Inc. 1,395.7 First Capital Holdings Corp. 844.4 Average for industry group 669.23 Investment Services Jefferies Group Inc. 357.1 Charles Schwab Corp. 181.9 Franklin Resources Inc 119.2 Average for industry group 219.40 Leasing Intl. Lease Finance 10,860.0 Amplicon Inc. 674.7 PLM International Inc. 525.0 Average for industry group 2,502.04 Real Estate Development JM Peters Co. 2,071.3 Kaufman & Broad Home 1,050.5 Calprop Corp. 790.1 Average for industry group 691.10 Restaurants Sizzler Restaurants Intl Inc 31.4 Carl Karcher Enterprises 27.2 Collins Foods International 24.9 Average for industry group 27.81 Retail Price Co. 373.8 Businessland Inc. 348.6 Sharper Image Corp. 191.3 Average for industry group 118.54 Savings & Loans Columbia Savings 1,350.2 Bay View Federal Savings 681.9 Gibraltar Financial Corp. 640.8 Average for industry group 471.36 Semiconductors Chips & Technologies Inc. 459.3 Adaptec Inc. 196.8 VLSI Tchnology Inc. 147.4 Average for industry group 119.26 Transportation Services American President Cos. 472.8 Tiger International 208.9 Harper Group Inc. 104.9 Average for industry group 160.41 Utilities San Diego Gas & Electric 433.6 SCEcorp 354.4 Pacific Gas & Electric 287.4 Average for industry group 237.95

EMPLOYMENT OUTLOOK

Survey respondents’ plans to increase, maintain or reduce staff. Industry Aerospace & Defense Total Increasing 0 Total Neutral 10 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 10 Percent Increasing 0.0 Percent Neutral 100.0 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Agriculture Total Increasing 0 Total Neutral 1 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 1 Percent Increasing 0.0 Percent Neutral 100.0 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Banking Total Increasing 3 Total Neutral 15 Total Reducing 1 Total Responding 19 Percent Increasing 15.8 Percent Neutral 78.9 Percent Reducing 5.3 Industry Basic Materials Total Increasing 5 Total Neutral 8 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 13 Percent Increasing 38.5 Percent Neutral 61.5 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Computer Products Total Increasing 49 Total Neutral 17 Total Reducing 2 Total Responding 68 Percent Increasing 72.1 Percent Neutral 25.0 Percent Reducing 2.9 Industry Consumer Products Total Increasing 7 Total Neutral 14 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 21 Percent Increasing 33.3 Percent Neutral 66.7 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Drugs & Pharmaceuticals Total Increasing 5 Total Neutral 4 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 9 Percent Increasing 55.6 Percent Neutral 44.4 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Electronics Total Increasing 38 Total Neutral 21 Total Reducing 2 Total Responding 61 Percent Increasing 62.3 Percent Neutral 34.4 Percent Reducing 3.3 Industry Energy Total Increasing 2 Total Neutral 7 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 9 Percent Increasing 22.2 Percent Neutral 77.8 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Entertainment & Leisure Total Increasing 10 Total Neutral 16 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 26 Percent Increasing 38.5 Percent Neutral 61.5 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Financial Services Total Increasing 16 Total Neutral 15 Total Reducing 1 Total Responding 32 Percent Increasing 50.0 Percent Neutral 46.9 Percent Reducing 3.1 Industry Health Services Total Increasing 4 Total Neutral 8 Total Reducing 1 Total Responding 13 Percent Increasing 30.8 Percent Neutral 61.5 Percent Reducing 7.7 Industry Industrial Total Increasing 11 Total Neutral 14 Total Reducing 1 Total Responding 26 Percent Increasing 42.3 Percent Neutral 53.8 Percent Reducing 3.8 Industry Real Estate Total Increasing 7 Total Neutral 12 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 19 Percent Increasing 36.8 Percent Neutral 63.2 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Retail Total Increasing 13 Total Neutral 11 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 24 Percent Increasing 54.2 Percent Neutral 45.8 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Savings & Loan Total Increasing 4 Total Neutral 15 Total Reducing 4 Total Responding 23 Percent Increasing 17.4 Percent Neutral 65.2 Percent Reducing 17.4 Industry Services Total Increasing 17 Total Neutral 16 Total Reducing 2 Total Responding 35 Percent Increasing 48.4 Percent Neutral 45.7 Percent Reducing 5.7 Industry Telecommunications Total Increasing 1 Total Neutral 1 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 2 Percent Increasing 50.0 Percent Neutral 50.0 Percent Reducing 0.0 Industry Utilities Total Increasing 3 Total Neutral 5 Total Reducing 1 Total Responding 9 Percent Increasing 33.3 Percent Neutral 55.6 Percent Reducing 11.1 Industry Wholesale Total Increasing 10 Total Neutral 9 Total Reducing 0 Total Responding 19 Percent Increasing 52.6 Percent Neutral 47.4 Percent Reducing 0.0 Total Total Increasing 205 Total Neutral 219 Total Reducing 15 Total Responding 439 Percent Increasing 46.7 Percent Neutral 49.9 Percent Reducing 3.4