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The purpose of this paper is to analyze the influence of the motivation to adopt International Standards Organization (ISO) 9001 on both the internalization of the standard, namely the active day-to-day use of its main underlying practices, and the benefits obtained from its adoption. Similarly, the influence of the internalization on the benefits derived from ISO 9001 is analyzed.

A longitudinal survey was carried out on a sample of 110 Spanish organizations that adopted the standard in its early phase of dissemination. These organizations were surveyed in 1999 and, 12 years later, in 2011.

The results show that, contrary to the results of previous research work, early adopters driven by internal motives experience neither higher levels of internalization of ISO 9001 nor higher benefits from adoption of the standard. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence that in the long run a higher level of internalization leads to greater benefits from the adoption of ISO 9001.

The adoption of ISO 9001 is a dynamic process in which certificating organizations play an important role.