The article explores how small and medium-sized businesses make decisions about outsourcing and offshoring their global value chains. Researchers interviewed seventeen Japanese SMBs and found six key factors that influence these decisions: costs, uncertainty, speed and knowhow, flexibility and scalability, culture and organizational risks, and regulation and legal requirements. The study challenges the idea that firms must gradually build knowledge before going global, showing that some SMBs are accessing overseas resources early on. This suggests that globalization has made it easier for SMBs to expand internationally.