CEOs dread March Madness as much as their merchant counterparts welcome the holiday shopping season.

They must deal with office pools, employees who fill out brackets during working hours and workers who find every excuse imagineable (sorry about your grandmother) to watch the Big Dance -- online or on TV, at home or the office.

CBS Sports is offering a free online viewing service that makes it easier than ever for folks to track scores and watch the action from the privacy of their own cubicles, if not at the mall, supermarket or barbershop, not to mention the nearest saloon.

A recent study by the Chicago placement firm of Challenger, Gray and, yes, Christmas fouund that American companies are losing up to $3.8 billion in productivity during the three-week frenzy over college basketball.

Using numbers like the USA's labor force of 142.8 million, an average wage of $18 per hour and a Gallup Poll finding that 41 percent of Americans are college hoops fans, the study pinpointed specifics:

** Average time spent on college hoops Internet sites: 13.5 MINUTES.

** Average amount earned ev

ery 13.5 minutes by an American worker: $4.05.

** The cost to employees nationwide in lost wages for each 13.5 minutes of time workers spend on the Internet: $237 MILLION.

** Total amount March Madness may cost employers over the 16 business days of the tournament: $3.8 BILLION.

A follow-up survey by the Las Vegas Review Journal found that it's wise for employers to swallow the bad with the good on this occasion and not only tolarate hoops hysteria, but actually join in the festvities.

Such behavior fosters goodwill and promotes a sense of conviviality among employees, whose improved morale results in higher productivity.

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