Kamu yönetiminin sorunları farklı olmasına karşın belli başlı gruplarda toplanmıştır. Belirtilen bu sorunlar salt kendi çapında sorun olmayıp birleşerek tüm ülke çapında etkin olmayan, verimsiz bir yapı ve işleyişe neden olmaktadır. Özellikle aşırı merkeziyetçilik anlayışı esnekliği yok etmiş, yetki devri ve kullanımı konularında kamu yöneticileri görevlerini yerine getiremez duruma gelmişlerdir. Özellikle toplam kalite yönetimine çalışanların katılımı, takım çalışması, sürekli gelişme, değişimi içselleştirme, kalite kültürünün yaratılması, bireye önem ve öncelik verme vb. bir çok ilkesinin yeni uygulama araçlarıyla birlikte kamu yönetimine getireceği yararlar oldukça fazladır. Klasik anlayışla yavaş işleyen kamu kurumlarının hem sorunlarından kurtulabilmesi hem de çağın gereklerine göre işleyebilmesi için yersiz ve gereksiz tartışmalar içinde boğulmadan toplam kalite yönetimi ile bütünleşme yönünde bir çaba sarfetmeleri gerekli olmaktadır. Özel ya da kamu sektöründeki bir kurumun karşılaştığı ve karşılaşabileceği ortak sorunlar genel sorunlar olarak değerlendirilebilir. Bu bağlamda toplam kalite yönetimini uygulayacak olan bir kurumun karşılaşacağı genel sorunlar arasında kaliteye olan inançsızlık, değişime karşı direnç, toplam kalite yönetimini olduğundan fazla yüceltmek,mevcut durumun yeterince analiz edilmemesi, sıradan beklentilere sahip olmak, yönetimin ve yöneticilerin tutumu, başarıların ödüllendirilmemesi, vatandaş ve hizmet odaklı olma, eğitim ve yetiştirmenin yetersizliği gibi konular incelenip analiz edilecektir.

Today, total quality management means a management philosophy- rather than simply a management technique- for the institutions that develop to adapt to the changing conditions and want to survive and be successful by catching up with changes in customer satisfaction. Total quality management is a management philosophy which aims to continuously improve the quality of processes with the participation of everyone in an institution, and of products and services which come into being as a result of these processes and to meet and serve beyond the needs and expectations of domestic and foreign costumers. It is obvious that organizations with classical management philosophy fall short in solving the problems they face in today’s competitive market and have serious problems to survive. As a matter of fact, organizations adopt new management techniques to improve efficiency and effectiveness of their companies. In this context, total quality management which emerged in the 1950s in Japan and which provide significant advantages for organizations was first started to be used in private sector. Public organizations that understood the advantages of total quality management which was successfully applied in private sector started to apply this managerial method in their bodies. When the condition of the public organizations in our country is considered, it is obvious that total quality management can make significant contributions to rehabilitate current structure and to improve the efficiency, effectiveness and quality of social services public institutions provide. Although the problems of public administration are different, they were classified under major groups. The problems mentioned are not only self-contained but when combined also lead to an inefficient structure and functioning throughout the country. In particular, extreme centralization understanding have done away with flexibility and incapacitated public administrators for the exertion and delegation of authority. The principles of the participation of employees in total quality management, teamwork, continuous improvement, change in internalization, the creation of a culture of quality, importance and priority to the individual with means of new application will bring in many benefits for public administration. Public institutions, which function slowly with a classical understanding, are to show effort to internalize total-quality management without drowning in unwarranted and unnecessary discussions both to get rid of their problems and to function according to the requirements of the modern era. Accordingly, the general problems a public institution to implement total quality management can face can be listed as follows: non-belief in quality, resistance to change, overestimation of the total quality management, not being able to properly analyze the current situation, having ordinary expectations, managers' bad attitudes, lack of rewards for achievements, not being citizen and service focused, not being able to provide quality education and training. Total quality management can be defined as the satisfaction of customers with the improvement of the quality of an institution in all processes with the participation of all workers to contribute development and creativeness with planned and systematic approach and with continuous development and improvement. With rational managerial philosophy, total quality management aims to achieve the production of services and products according to pre-determined paradigm and quality standards. Total quality management can be defined as a managerial approach which focuses on quality in an organization with the participation of all members and which aims to be successful in the long run via customer satisfaction, and which aims to be beneficial to all members of an organization and the society. The concept of quality has become one of the most important mottos of societies and institutions. While the process of globalization brings about the shrinkage of state sector, new understandings in management have increased the expectations of people from the state. Today, people expect the services government provides to be qualified. With privatization and with handing over of authority in the local governments, the level of expected quality of services has risen as well. It is not possible for the public sector to ignore the opportunities to provide rapid and efficient service with the help of information technologies and to isolate itself from these developments. The transfer of innovations from private sector to public sector is also regarded to be a social responsibility. Citizens are the end users of the products and services provided by public organizations. Concordantly, the opinions of citizens about the products and services provided are important. User-centered or citizen-centered public service understanding is no longer a luxury but expectation of all citizens. The best way to meet these expectations is to use the applications of total quality management. In the case of certain services, it may not be possible for public administration to view citizens as customers. However, the adaptation of “customer-centered” public service approach in public administration can substantially increase the quality of public services. Therefore, there is no disadvantage to adopting customer or citizen-centered public service approach in public administration. In public administration, “customer centeredness” can also be referred as “citizen-centeredness”. Concordantly, in citizencentered approach, citizens are not regarded as a customer as in private sector but as the recipient, supervisor and providers of public services. Passive citizens who only pay taxes and watch administrative activities have now become “active citizens”-more than just a customer- who are beneficiary of public services, who supervise the efficiency and performance of public activities and who take part in administrative, political and democratic processes. The theoretical developments in the 21st century with regard to new requirements so as to increase the quality, effectiveness and efficaciousness of public service increased search for quality in public services. In the 21st century, public institutions can only survive with adopting citizen/customer centered administrative understanding and realizing it to improve the quality of public services. The fact that traditional public administration have not been successful in increasing service quality and accomplishing adequate efficiency in the world and Turkey alike since the 1980s led to search for quality in the public sector and speeded up adoption of citizen/customer centered management understanding. Considering the rapid transformation in the world, it is obvious that public sector falls behind private sector and thus cannot meet citizens’ demands. Although there are many reasons why total quality management comes up in public administration, the need for change stands out as the main reason. Now citizens do not only pay taxes for the sustainability of public institutions but also express their worries about the quality of the services. In conclusion, robust sustainment of organization life in public institutions where the sources are limited will be possible with the improvement of quality of services and reduction of costs through total quality management applications