Following the introduction of Belbin's approach to Team Role analysis in 1981, an independent study of the psychometric properties of the instruments was published in 1993 in the "Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology". Belbin took to task the authors, Furnham, Steele and Pendleton and the "Journal" provided Furnham space to reply. Belbin argued that the instruments were not intended for scholarly inquiry, but to inform management consulting practices. Additionally, Belbin maintains that the Belbin Team Inventory is not a psychometric instrument and hence applying tests for psychometric properties are irrelevant.