New business models in the context of fragmentation of the global economy: institutional adaptation to disintegration processes

Abstract

The article aims to theoretically generalize the impact of global economic fragmentation and digitalization on the transformation of international business models, identify the role of Asia in shaping new business architectures, and systematize contemporary business models as forms of institutional adaptation to disintegration processes. It is argued that the current stage of world economic development is characterized not by the rollback of globalization, but by its transformation into a more fragmented and politically conditioned configuration in which trade, investment, technological, and institutional ties are increasingly shaped by geopolitical, security, and regulatory factors. The study demonstrates that digitalization creates a new infrastructural basis of the global economy, where digital platforms, data systems, cloud services, and artificial intelligence become key mechanisms of market coordination. At the same time, technological universality does not eliminate regional differences. On the contrary, global business architectures acquire regionally embedded forms of implementation that depend on institutional environments, regulatory regimes, and consumer patterns. In this context, Asia emerges as a leading space for the formation of new business architectures due to its growing role in global trade, technological investment, digital infrastructure, and innovation-driven industrial development. The article identifies six archetypes of new business models that reflect institutional responses to fragmentation and digital transformation: emotion-first products, network-driven commerce, microsegments and microproducers, knowledge-driven customer acquisition, Conglomerates 3.0, and AI-native consumer platforms. It is substantiated that these models should be understood not merely as commercial innovations, but as adaptive mechanisms that enhance resilience, flexibility, and control in an increasingly fragmented global environment. The study concludes that business models are becoming strategic instruments of economic adaptation, and that competitiveness is increasingly determined by the capacity to integrate into global digital infrastructures through regionally specific mechanisms of implementation.