corporations has expanded the number of enterprises willing to engage in joint venture operations across national borders, even on a minority .ownership basis. 33. More recently, transnational business competition and technological developments have created cost and marketing pressures that force even the largest transnational corporations to adapt their organizational structure and management operations. These changes are reflected in the growth of intercorporate alliances, often between competing enterprises, that encompass a growing variety of transnational business arrangements, including the full range of non-equity ventures. While many of these arrangements were used in the past,· their rapid expansion in key industries and importance to overall corporate strategy alter the nature and application of managerial control and reduce the .relative importance of traditional equity-ownership-related measures. 34. Intercorporate arrangements among transnational corporations ln the industrialized world reach across broad industrial sectors. Hundreds of joint ventures and collaboration arrangements exist in the oligopolistic automotive industry, where the nationality associated with famous corpora~e nameplates now bear little necessary .relationship to the identity or location of the p(oduct's value-added activities •. For example, an autornobile model that' recently made headlines as the hottest selling import in Japan.is manufactured in the United States by a Japanese company that is itself nearly one quarter owned by a United States company. In telecommunications, ·a French/United States/B~ .lgia~ . telecommunications venture battled a Unitecl States/Dutch '/.Italian ·alliance · over I• •• E/C.10/1990/5 English Page 13 jincreased sales in the Federal Republic of Germany market, while a major Japanese I communications company placed its first overseas order for telecommunications equipment from the North Carolina facility of a Canadian firm. · 35. Although this phenomenon is not widespread, the mixed national character of many transnational corporations provides an inc·reasingly pluralistic backdrop for political discussions on international ·economic issues. Corporate executives 
**Analysis**
The text discusses the growth of transnational corporations and their increasing involvement in joint ventures and collaborations across national borders. It highlights the blurring of national boundaries in industries such as automotive and telecommunications, and how this phenomenon is changing the nature of managerial control and traditional measures of ownership. The text does not touch on specific issues related to economic development, natural resources, agriculture, forestry, fishing, health, education, employment, humanitarian aid, or culture. It does, however, focus on the economic aspect of international relations, particularly in the context of industry and trade.

**Category**
Industry, International trade