Journal of Business Studies - JBS Vol.14 Issue.1 Page | 129 ISSN 2414-8393 IMPACT OF MARKET ORIENTATION ON FIRM PERFORMANCE; THE MEDIATING ROLE OF INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN EXCELLENCE AWARDED CORPORATE SECTOR *The material presented by the author does not necessarily portray the view point of the editors and the management of the Ilma University – Formerly IBT 1. Khawar Naheed : khawarnaheed@bzu.edu.pk 2. Muhammad Sadiq Shahid (corresponding author) : sshahidmalik@bzu.edu.pk 3. Muhammad Aamir : maamirbzu@yahoo.com 4. Badar Latif : badarlatif@gmail.com ©ILMA-JBS is published by the Ilma University – Formerly IBT Main Ibrahim Hydri Road, Korangi Creek, Karachi-75190, Pakistan ABSTRACT Innovation strategy and market orientation is vital for firm performance and competitive advantage. The survival of organizations dependent on its innovation strategies regarding the product, process and technological development and market orientation in order to increase firm performance. Innovation strategies. Market orientation helps in giving direction to the organization by providing superior value to the customers. The market orientation from organization perspective makes the customer as the focal point that influence on its performance. These main objectives of this study are; to examine the direct relationship between market orientation and firm performance and examine the indirect relationship of innovation strategies (mediation) between market orientation and firm performance. Using quantitative technique, this study collected questionnaires from 240 employees and managers working in corporate excellence awarded organizations. The data was analyzed in SPSS and PLS-SEM for analysis. The results indicated that market orientation has direct relationship with firm performance. The results also confirmed the indirect effect of innovation strategies between market orientation and firm performance. This indirect effect indicated that innovation strategies partially mediate between market orientation and firm performance. The finding of this study suggest that the corporate sector top managers and policy makers should adopt and implement the innovation strategy for the long term success and gain superior performance. Khawar Naheed Assistant Professor; Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan, Pakistan Muhammad Sadiq Shahid (corresponding author) Assistant Professor, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Muhammad Aamir Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan Badar Latif Research Scholar; Department of Commerce B. Z University, Multan Keywords: Innovation strategy, Firm performance, Market orientation Jel Classification: C38; C83; M31; Q13