The knowledge pertaining to the factors, which govern localization of operations and capabilities in a global supply chain, is limited. The purpose of the paper is to find out which factors and how they jointly affect the design of a global supply chain. The relevant literature is reviewed and a concept matrix is developed. The study identifies 30 factors that affect a global supply chain design and specifically how theses relate to the design decisions on location of factories and production, supplier selection and development, distribution logistics, organisation of interfaces/enterprise information infrastructure along the supply chain and human resource development. The decision model is developed and the description of the model is done with the help of an example (location of a factory) by using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) (Saaty, 1990).