In this article, the relationship is studied between certification on the ISO 9000 series and the performance of organizations. It is often claimed that ISO certification generates an improvement in the performance of organizations. This research aims to find out if ISO certification indeed results in better performance outcomes for organizations. This is of importance, for example, for those organizations that seek ISO certification in order to improve their performances. To test the hypothesis, an instrument is developed to measure the performance. The performance of organizations is operationalized through five performance indicators, which were derived from the literature: production process, company result, customer satisfaction, personnel motivation, and investment on means. Besides this main research interest the question is posed if other factors can explain for the performance. The concept of motivation is introduced which is the focus of the second part of the study.

Purpose -The purpose of this study is to test the relationship between team composition and team performance by applying the construct of Ten Haaf, Bikker and Adriaanse. Design/methodology/approach -Data were collected from a sample of 39 teams out of a population of 234 undergraduate MBA students. Four performance indices of each team were tested against the Ten Haaf et al. scores by using Spearman's rank test. Findings -A statistical relation between team composition according to Ten Haaf et al. and team performance was not found. It is argued that Ten Haaf et al. and other authors do not use constructs according to Belbin's theory of balancing teams. Research limitations/implications -There is need for a construct, which is isomorphic with Belbin's notions of team balancing. The relation between this construct and performance should be tested. Practical implications -The current team balancing constructs in literature are of limited use. As the various constructs give differing assessments of balance these constructs should not be used. Implications are suggested for more prescriptive algorithms for designing balanced teams. Originality/value -The team composition algorithm of Ten Haaf et al. has not been tested up to now with regard to team performance. The study amplifies on the ambiguity of the concept of team balance.

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