Effect of Conflict levels on Organisational Learning: An Indian Study

Conflict can be a prospect for learning in an organisation. It has been identified as a key element in group and organisational learning. Conflict has been shown as a motivator in creating shared understandings which ultimately leads to organisational learning.A broad review on existing literature has shown that conflict arises at personal, Organisational and group levels. The aim of this study is to analyze the effect of conflict levels on organisational learning. The study was completed by taking into account hundred samples consisting of senior and middle level managers from various Indian organisations selected at random. Standardized Scale on the two variables known as organisational Conflict Scale (OCS) and organisational Learning Diagnostics (OLD) have been used. Statistical techniques like Regression and Correlation Analysis by using SPSS 17.0 have been applied to gain knowledge about the relationship between the two study variables. The results have shown that the organisations under study are learning in terms of building competencies and there exists a negative correlation between conflict and organisational learning. The study has got implications for all those organisations where managing conflict is not considered as an integral part of organisational performance. The management of conflict at all the three levels is necessary by taking into consideration various strategies and styles which can be adopted to reduce or minimize the conflict so that Organisational goals can be attained.