MANAGEMENT AUDITS APPRAISE THE ABILITIES OF MANAGERS TO ACCOMPLISH SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES AS WELL AS ASSIGNED TASKS. THE TEXT EXAMINES THE MANAGEMENT AUDIT'S BENEFITS AND PROBLEMS. AS A BASIS FOR THE MANAGEMENT AUDIT QUESTIONNAIRE, MANAGEMENT AUDITING PROCEDURES ARE DETAILED ACCORDING TO THE FOLLOWING FUNCTIONS: CORPORATE PLANNING, ACCOUNTING, FINANCE, MARKETING, RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, ENGINEERING, PRODUCTION, AND PERSONNEL. THE WORK ENVIRONMENT, EMPLOYEE SATISFACTION, AND COMPUTERIZED INFORMATION SYSTEMS ARE ALSO EVALUATED. SPECIALIZED AREAS WITHIN THESE CATEGORIES INCLUDE PHYSICAL DISTRIBUTION, INVENTORY, PURCHASING, AND SECURITY. THE AUDIT QUESTIONNAIRE IS PRESENTED FOR EACH AREA ACCOMPANIED BY SAMPLE CASE STUDIES TO ILLUSTRATE THE APPLICATION OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE TO TYPICAL MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS. THE QUESTIONNAIRE SURVEYS LONG-RANGE PLANS, SHORT-OR MEDIUM-RANGE PLANS, ORGANIZATIONAL STRUCTURE, LEADERSHIP, COMMUNICATION, AND CONTROL. THIS QUESTIONNAIRE APPROACH PERMITS MANAGEMENT TO DETECT DEFICIENCIES IN ONGOING OPERATIONS SO THAT PROBLEMS CAN BE CORRECTED IMMEDIATELY INSTEAD OF WAITING FOR AN ANNUAL REVIEW BY AN OUTSIDE CONSULTANT. A BIBLIOGRAPHY WITH OVER 30 CITATIONS IS PROVIDED. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED--MJM)