The interface and intraface describe the scope of and relations among individuals
involved in the alliance, but they say little about their level of involvement. This level of
involvement is described by the third parameter in our framework—the specialization within
the alliance. Based on the traditional understanding of specialization as the number of different
tasks a single individual in an organization has to carry out (Mintzberg, 1980), specialization
within the alliance refers to the degree to which alliance activities are
differentiated from other organizational activities within the partners’ internal organization.