※ Our check while writing this explanation could not fully confirm the published answer; scoring follows IPA's official key.
×Incorrectア
Making a product similar to Q Company's popular item and selling it more cheaply than Q Company corresponds to “save costs through imitation”, which the table assigns to “other than the above”. That is the strategy for a company ranked 3rd or lower in market share that is not 1st even for any specific product (a follower). After the acquisition S Company is 2nd with 22%, so it does not apply. In addition, low-price selling based on imitation makes no use at all of S Company's strength, its high product planning capability, so it runs counter to the policy on that point as well.
×Incorrectイ
Specializing in producing allergy-conscious health snacks to aim for high price and high profit corresponds to “respond to specific needs” in the table, that is, a niche strategy. The table specifies that this is adopted by a “company ranked 3rd or lower in market share but 1st in market share for a specific product” (a nicher). After the acquisition S Company is 2nd overall, so it does not meet that condition, and [S Company's Situation] contains no statement that it is 1st in share for any specific product either.
×Incorrectウ
Raising people's health consciousness through advertising and thereby increasing demand for health snacks itself corresponds to “expand the size of the entire market” in the table, the strategy adopted by the company ranked 1st in market share (the leader). After the acquisition S Company has 22%, staying in 2nd place behind Q Company's 25% rather than being 1st, so it does not apply. A measure that grows the whole market lets Q Company, which holds the largest share, reap the most benefit, so having 2nd-place S Company bear the cost of it does not fit the policy in the table.
○エ
正解The correct answer is エ. First, work out S Company's market share after the acquisition. According to the lead-in text shared by the Group C questions, the market shares for health snacks are Q Company 25%, R Company 16%, S Company 12%, T Company 10%, and others 37%. Policy Plan 2 is the plan to acquire the business that T Company is withdrawing from, and the question states that the company is expected to largely secure the market share formerly held by T Company, so after the acquisition S Company has 12% + 10% = 22%. At that point the ranking is Q Company 25% in 1st place, S Company 22% in 2nd place, and R Company 16% in 3rd place, so S Company matches the table row for a “company ranked 2nd in market share”. The strategy the table assigns to a 2nd-place company is “attack other companies with one's own strengths”. S Company's strength is given in item (3) of the lead-in: it has higher product planning capability than its competitors. Choice エ, “invest funds in departments related to product planning, then plan and sell highly competitive, superior products”, concentrates management resources on exactly that strength of product planning capability and goes on the offensive against the top company Q and others with superior products, so it is appropriate. In terms of competitive position, this is the 2nd-place company, the challenger, taking on the leader through differentiation based on its own strengths rather than fighting on the leader's own ground.
ここがポイント
After an acquisition or business integration, recompute market share as “own share + the share of the business being taken over”, then compare with the other companies to determine the ranking. In this question, S Company 12% + T Company 10% = 22%, which is 2nd behind Q Company's 25% and ahead of R Company's 16%.
The mapping between competitive position and strategy: the leader (1st) grows the pie of the whole market, the challenger (2nd) uses its own strengths to attack the companies above it, the nicher (1st in a specific segment) adapts to specific needs, and the follower (everyone else) keeps costs down through imitation. Determine which position your own company holds first, and only then pick among the options.