※ Our check while writing this explanation could not fully confirm the published answer; scoring follows IPA's official key.
×Incorrectア
Introducing a mail-order sales system that is not easily affected by the number of sales locations is a measure meant to make up for the weakness (a negative factor of the internal environment) in 〔S Company situation〕 (1), that the company has fewer sales locations than other companies. It overcomes a weakness rather than extending a strength, so it does not fit Policy Plan 1.
○イ
正解Policy Plan 1 says to strengthen the information system in order to further extend the company strengths. What must be chosen, therefore, is a measure that uses an information system to further reinforce S Company strengths (in SWOT analysis, the positive factors of the internal environment). Among the items in 〔S Company situation〕, the ones that count as strengths are (3) product planning ability higher than that of competitors, and (8) the fact that turning customers into members has gathered customer information and has also succeeded in acquiring wealthy members. The CRM (Customer Relationship Management) system in choice イ is a mechanism that analyzes the accumulated purchase data of customers and provides finely tailored, attentive service to each individual member, thereby deepening the relationship with customers. This is exactly a measure that uses an information system to further extend the existing strength in (8), that membership has gathered customer information, and it matches Policy Plan 1. The correct answer is therefore イ.
×Incorrectウ
Thoroughly enforcing safety management in the production process is a response to the threat (a negative factor of the external environment) in (7), that consumers have become stricter about food safety, and at the same time it takes care of the weakness in (5), the aging of the factory. It is a defensive measure, not a measure that further extends a strength.
×Incorrectエ
A POS (Point Of Sales) system is a mechanism that collects and analyzes sales results such as the product, the quantity, and the time of day at the moment an item is sold at the register; it is not a mechanism for obtaining statistical data on the population distribution of each region (population statistics are external statistical data). The purpose and the means do not correspond. Furthermore, planning health snacks for adults is a response to the threat in (6), that the child population is decreasing as the birth rate falls, so it is not a measure that extends a strength either.
ここがポイント
Read 〔S Company situation〕 by sorting each item into the four categories of SWOT analysis. Strengths and weaknesses belong to the internal environment (the company own abilities and resources), while opportunities and threats belong to the external environment (changes in the market and in society). Policy Plan 1 in this question says to further extend a strength, so the answer is settled simply by judging whether each choice is a measure aimed at a strength, a weakness, an opportunity, or a threat.
CRM is the idea, and the system that implements it, of analyzing information such as the purchase histories of customers, responding to each customer in a way suited to that individual, and thereby maintaining and strengthening a good relationship with customers so that it leads to revenue. Keep it distinct from POS, which collects sales results, from a production management system, which manages production plans and progress, and from a mail-order sales system, which widens sales channels: hold on to what purpose each system exists for.