The Clinton Administration is taking a moderate approach limited mostly to giving public plaudits to companies that combine innovative employment and training programs with strong bottom-line performances.

"For the fifth consecutive quarter, we saw substantial improvements in our operations and bottom-line performance," said Jeff Bezos, Amazon's chief executive, in the news release.

On a sequential basis, anyone who thinks that "bottom-line performance" refers to net income would also be amazed.

Since the mid-1990's, the company has been buying up facilities like St. Augustine's, originally a Catholic missionary hospital, and demanding a strong bottom-line performance.

I hope that, by analysing our operations in a different way, I have been to improve our bottom-line performance.

"Whatever I can do to contribute to the bottom-line performance of the company would be No. 1 in the short term," Mr. Clifford said.

How much does advancement and compensation depend on bottom-line performance versus the other values?

Investors seemed pleased with the firm's bottom-line performance.

In fact, employee pension funds have taken the lead in demanding better bottom-line performance by managers of corporations in which they invest.

The company's bottom-line performance slipped somewhat in 1988, but picked up in 1989.