Conflict Management for Innovation and Top Management Teams

Abstract: For growing firms to be able to adapt and innovate, top management teams may be essential. The performance of top management teams is said to be enhanced by conflict and diversity, according to a number of streams of strategy research. This research offers a new viewpoint on important conflict antecedents, mediators, and outcomes in the surroundings of the innovation process by operating from the premise that conflict is complex, multidimensional, and context-specific. This study makes the argument that top management teams' ability to effectively lead organizational innovation can be strongly influenced by the way they handle conflict. The management of conflict (cooperative, competitive, and avoiding) and productive conflict (result of conflict) were assessed by 300 executives from 110 firms in Delhi. These firms indicated their team’s effectiveness and their organization’s innovativeness. The hypothesis that conflict management can help top management teams be more effective is supported by the findings. According to structural equation analysis, managing conflict helps top management teams function more effectively, which in turn leads to organizational innovation.

Keyword: Conflict Management, Organization, Innovation, Team Effectiveness, Performance