The role of corporate reputation in the relationship between product differentiation strategy and innovation

It's been argued in the literature that adherence to at least one competitive strategy for the enterprises will result in higher performance rather than developing none. Furthermore, enterprises with a suitable strategy environment demonstrate maximum performance compared to enterprises that don't change their strategies. This is also the case for hospitals. The nature of the relation between market structure and rivalry indicates the increase of competition among hospitals with the inclusion of different quality and number of hospitals in the health system. The research has two main purposes. The first of these is to reveal the correlation between product differentiation strategy and innovation, which is one of the competitive strategies and the second purpose is to determine whether corporate reputation has an intermediary role in this relationship or not. The research was conducted among private hospital employees operating in Istanbul. 632 raw data were collected by survey technique and analyzed with statistical package program. After descriptive statistics, exploratory and confirmatory factor analyzes were applied for all three scales. With the structural modifications made to assure sectoral and cultural harmony, the validity and reliability of the scales were ensured. Then, normality and descriptive statistics were examined. Finally, correlation and regression analysis were conducted to test the research hypotheses. The study has shown that; there is a positive and affirmative relationship between product differentiation strategy and innovation. Besides, the intermediary role of corporate reputation in this existing relationship has been identified. The findings also suggest that the adoption of product differentiation strategy in private hospitals has a direct effect on increasing the success of innovation practices. In this existing relationship, corporate reputation increases the impact of product differentiation strategy on innovation and ensures successful results of innovation practices.