Which industries are likely to be affected?

Globally manufactured goods, including food and clothing, are deeply embedded in California's and the rest of the world's markets. The 50 largest multinational manufacturing companies had 55% of their employees and 59% of their sales outside of the home countries.

Revenue growth is coming from overseas, not domestically. (This is increasingly so for small manufacturers too). In 1988, 38 of the 64 largest food processing firms owned a total of 682 food processing plants in foreign countries. These plants accounted for 26 percent of the 38 firms' sales of $154 billion in 1988. In contrast, exports of processed food from these firms amounted to only 2.6 percent of their U.S. sales. These developments suggest that virtually all manufacturing products are likely to be affected by global competition. Competition with imports have also outpaced export opportunities. Current and emerging multinational firm competitive characteristics are those of advanced manufacturing, including: product quality and excellent design, product technology, advanced management techniques, excellent logistics, rapid response to changing markets, company acquisitions, sustained edge in use of IT, high level of innovation, and flexible role in supply chains being either a competitor or partner.