Total quality management or TQM is defined as a form of management that ensures that every element of the business contributes to a company's overall overall effort to achieve the highest levels of quality in the provision of its products and services. The goal of this type of management is to ensure that everything produced meets very high standards. In this article I will discuss the history of Total Quality Management, the philosophy of Total Quality Management (fourteen points), and the advantages and disadvantages of using Total Quality Management. W. Edward Deming first developed Total Quality Management in the mid-1930s. While working as a consultant at an automobile plant, Dr. Deming trained groups of workers, supervisors, and engineers in his quality control methods. During the 1940s Dr. Deming took a new government position. He was to use his quality control methods for problems focused on industrial production for war. When Dr. Deming returned to work in the government he noticed that American companies were not using his quality control methods. So he decided to work on the Japanese census, all the work. Dr. Deming was invited to lecture at the Japan Union of Scientists and Engineers on his statistical quality techniques. A professor from the business administration department at the University of Japan attended the lecture and thought that what Dr. Deming said was true and that it could change the future of Japan. After attending Dr. Deming's lecture, the professor told his students that if they wanted to change Japan's economy in the next five years they should attend Dr. Deming's lecture on using statistics to achieve quality at a reduced price... half of the card ......S. But Total Quality Management created many quality management practices in public administration and management, with the help of Deming.SourcesSashkin, Marshall, and Kenneth J. Kiser. Put total quality management to work. San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, 1993. Schmidt Warren H. and Jerome P. Finnigan. TQM Manager: A Practical Guide for Management in a Total Quality Organization.San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1993.Talley, Dorsey J., Total Quality Management: Performance and CostMeasures, The Strategy for Economical Survival. Wisconsin: ASQC Quality Press, 1991. Total Quality Management. Online. Internet. November 21, 2004.Available: www.tkdtutor.com/05Instructors/TQM.htmTotal Quality Management. Online. Internet. November 21, 2004b Available: www.iejs.com/Management/Total_Quality_Mangement.htm