COMMERCE 4PA3 TEST EXAM 2026
COMMERCE TEST PAPER
QUESTIONS ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ External environment.
Answer: events and conditions surrounding an organization that
influence its activities
* events and conditions (economy, politics, tech)
* customers
* suppliers
* competitors
* interest groups (ex: high school students aren't in uni but they care
about uni
◉ Environmental uncertainty.
Answer: A condition that exists when the external environment is vague,
difficult to diagnose, and unpredictable
◉ What does environmental uncertainty depend on?.
Answer: 1. Complexity (simple vs complex)
2. Rate of change (static vs dynamic)
◉ What complexity and rate of change does an environment with low
perceived uncertainty have.
,Answer: Static and simple
◉ What complexity and rate of change does an environment with high
perceived uncertainty have.
Answer: Complex and dynamic
◉ What happens to organizations and decision makers when you
increase uncertainty?.
Answer: * Cause and effect relationships become less clear
* creates more disagreement on priorities and stimulates political
struggle of power within the organization
* more information needs to be processed to make adequate decisions
◉ Resource dependence with regards to the environment.
Answer: * Carefully managing and coping with resource dependence is
key to survival and success
* Organizations devote considerable effort to developing and
implementing strategies to cope with environmental uncertainty and
resources dependence
◉ Strategy.
Answer: The process by which top executives seek to cope with the
constraints and opportunities that an organization's environment poses
◉ Organizational structure as a strategic response.
,Answer: The manner in which an organization divides its labour into
specific tasks and achieves coordination among these tasks
◉ To achieve its goals, an organization should.
Answer: * Divide labour among its members
* coordinate what has been divided
◉ Vertical division of labour.
Answer: * Primarily for assigning authority for planning and decision
making
◉ How does the level of autonomy and control impact decision making
higher in the hierarchy.
Answer: The domain of decision making and authority is reduced as the
number of levels in the hierarchy increases
◉ How does communication impact decision making higher in the
hierarchy?.
Answer: With more levels, communication and coordination are harder
to achieve
◉ Horizontal division of labour.
Answer: Groups the basic tasks that must be performed into jobs and
then into departments
, Has to do with job deesign
◉ Differentiation.
Answer: Tendency for managers in separate functions or departments to
differ in terms of goals, interpersonal styles, time, etc.
◉ How does differentiation change as horizontal division increases?.
Answer: Differentiation increases
Under high differentiation, units operate more autonomously
◉ Departmentation categories.
Answer: Important
* functional departmentation
* product departmentation
* matrix departmentation
* geographic departmentation
* customer departmentation
* hybrid departmentation
◉ Functional departmentation.
COMMERCE TEST PAPER
QUESTIONS ANSWERS GRADED A+
◉ External environment.
Answer: events and conditions surrounding an organization that
influence its activities
* events and conditions (economy, politics, tech)
* customers
* suppliers
* competitors
* interest groups (ex: high school students aren't in uni but they care
about uni
◉ Environmental uncertainty.
Answer: A condition that exists when the external environment is vague,
difficult to diagnose, and unpredictable
◉ What does environmental uncertainty depend on?.
Answer: 1. Complexity (simple vs complex)
2. Rate of change (static vs dynamic)
◉ What complexity and rate of change does an environment with low
perceived uncertainty have.
,Answer: Static and simple
◉ What complexity and rate of change does an environment with high
perceived uncertainty have.
Answer: Complex and dynamic
◉ What happens to organizations and decision makers when you
increase uncertainty?.
Answer: * Cause and effect relationships become less clear
* creates more disagreement on priorities and stimulates political
struggle of power within the organization
* more information needs to be processed to make adequate decisions
◉ Resource dependence with regards to the environment.
Answer: * Carefully managing and coping with resource dependence is
key to survival and success
* Organizations devote considerable effort to developing and
implementing strategies to cope with environmental uncertainty and
resources dependence
◉ Strategy.
Answer: The process by which top executives seek to cope with the
constraints and opportunities that an organization's environment poses
◉ Organizational structure as a strategic response.
,Answer: The manner in which an organization divides its labour into
specific tasks and achieves coordination among these tasks
◉ To achieve its goals, an organization should.
Answer: * Divide labour among its members
* coordinate what has been divided
◉ Vertical division of labour.
Answer: * Primarily for assigning authority for planning and decision
making
◉ How does the level of autonomy and control impact decision making
higher in the hierarchy.
Answer: The domain of decision making and authority is reduced as the
number of levels in the hierarchy increases
◉ How does communication impact decision making higher in the
hierarchy?.
Answer: With more levels, communication and coordination are harder
to achieve
◉ Horizontal division of labour.
Answer: Groups the basic tasks that must be performed into jobs and
then into departments
, Has to do with job deesign
◉ Differentiation.
Answer: Tendency for managers in separate functions or departments to
differ in terms of goals, interpersonal styles, time, etc.
◉ How does differentiation change as horizontal division increases?.
Answer: Differentiation increases
Under high differentiation, units operate more autonomously
◉ Departmentation categories.
Answer: Important
* functional departmentation
* product departmentation
* matrix departmentation
* geographic departmentation
* customer departmentation
* hybrid departmentation
◉ Functional departmentation.
