Conflicts in innovation and how to approach the “last mile” of conflict management research – a literature review

The purpose of this study is to present the state-of-the-art in empirical research on conflicts in innovation inorganizations and to outline strategic implications both for research and practical application with the specific focus on intervention studies.

Literature search in the Web-of-Science identified 32 empirical publications from 1990 to July 2012. Characteristics of the studies, methodological approaches and empirical findings are summarized and discussed. Strategic implications are derived.

The literature review reveals studies of the relationship between conflict and innovation on different organizational levels. Most of the studies address different aspects of conflict as antecedents of innovation, while some address conflict as an outcome of innovative behavior or structures. Almost all authors come up with theoretical and practical implications. But intervention studies which could close the gap between theory and practice, here termed the “last mile” of conflict management, are yet to be addressed.

While several implications are derived that aim at consolidating and deepening the understanding of the conflict – innovation dynamics, the major implication is to develop a knowledge-oriented research approach and to expand the scope of research to intervention studies. Constructive controversy is described as an example of this new research avenue.

From intervention studies, researchers could gain more direct, practical insights into actual work processes. Managers could profit by incorporating first-hand knowledge augmented by researchers’ expertise.

This article provides a systematic review of the relationship between conflict and innovation in the business context and practical implications thereof.