T his article is divided into two m ain sections. In the ® rst section, we argue that total quality m anagement (T QM ) im plementation necessitates reliance on substantially more infor mation in the design, production and ser vice activities of ® r ms. In the second section, we present a blueprint of TQM infor mation requirem ents using data¯ow diagramming and suggest changes that occur in system usage within the three m ain organizational functions: planning organizational activities, making products and the selling of products. The m ajor contribution of the paper is in presenting evidence, albeit anecdotal, from organizations at the forefront of T QM practice, that TQM is an infor mation-intensive m anagement system, and then developing a model for the inform ation requirements in TQM .