Are American Multinationals Still "American?"

In case you missed it, Claudia Deutsch of the New York Times had an excellent article about how General Electric is trying to become even more international than it already is. Many of America's top companies are making 50 percent of their sales offshore. United Technologies makes 60 percent of its sales offshore, including both goods that are made in the U.S. and exported, and goods produced abroad. IBM is at 65 percent. Even General Motors has crossed the 50 percent threshold

As the article notes, the CEOs of these multinationals are trying to devise new management models. The old era of managing all critical functions from headquarters is increasingly that--old. IBM has 53,000 people in India. Shouldn't they manage themselves?

So globalization is what the CEOs of large corporations are thinking about. In view of the almost-certain recession in the United States, I don't think it's far-fetched to argue that some top companies will be making 70 to 80 percent of their sales offshore.

All this is certain to revive the debate about whether these companies still qualify as "American." My own view is that they are generating wealth for American employees and shareholders and are contributing a rich mix of high-end management, engineering and design jobs. I still think they are serving broad American interests.

What do you think?