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Total Quality Management calls for its implementation to be immediate and complete. Some contend it does not make sense to try to create quality improvement in the entire organization from the very beginning. They argue that not all processes are equally good or bad, not all departments function equally well, and not all services measure up to the same quality standard. Because of this, they contend that quality should be introduced incrementally and only in the specific areas that need it most.

Some critics claim Total Quality Management’s focus on setting and maintaining standards makes work life unexciting and boring. When employees are bored, their poor attitudes may cause customer dissatisfaction with the quality of service received from them. In addition, when too much emphasis is placed on standardization it precludes the constant internal changes needed to keep up with external changes.

Total Quality Management develops its own bureaucracy. TQM detractors contend its statistical burden and committee structure is cumbersome, slows organizational momentum, and consumes too much time and resources.

Opponents of Total Quality Management maintain that it appeals to egotism. After receiving some TQM training, some employees consider themselves TQM "experts" who have the answers to everyone else’s problems. They claim their department is doing everything right according to TQM principles and find fault with every other department. Some managers, instead of viewing achievement as a joint effort where every participant deserves praise, apply for awards for self-gratification or to benefit the organization’s public relations image.

Some detractors posit that TQM is an emotionally cold way to manage people. Its analytical, detached programs are often devoid of human emotion that inspires attachment to the organization and its customers.

Total Quality Management calls for a cultural transformation. Some argue it creates a process-crazed organization, similar to a cult, where the impression is that only total commitment to TQM can save the organization from ruin. Just as in a cult, all the decisions in TQM are related to the "vision." No one wants to claim individual credit for success; instead, success is attributed to the TQM philosophy. Results become less important than performing the proper TQM techniques. Just as in a cult, periodic evangelism by TQM experts is used to maintain a missionary zeal for TQM. If an employee is not a TQM believer, he or she considered an outcast who does not care about the organization’s success. Even with its problems, Total Quality Management may still be the best choice as a successor to the militaristic, authoritative management style.

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