Final answer:
The breaking up of traditional supply chains into smaller, agile ones that enhance business responsiveness and efficiency is known as supply chain segmentation. This is a trend towards splitting up the value chain, allowing specialized production stages across different locations and fostering intra-industry trade.
Step-by-step explanation:
When firms break their traditional supply chains into smaller and more agile supply chains that can better respond to higher levels of business complexity, save money, and improve customer service, this process is known as supply chain segmentation. In the context of the global economy, splitting up the value chain allows for specialized stages of production to occur in various locations, harnessing improvements in communication, information sharing, and transportation. Rather than trading finished goods, nations and companies engage in intra-industry trade, exchanging specialized components like automobile dashboards or refrigerator shelving and contributing to economic efficiency and innovation.