After a point, the damage is so bad that it can't be fixed without moving someone, or isolating the combatants somehow, although even that doesn't always eliminate the closed door backbiting and gossip that comes with this ugly territory. We are going to focus primarily on preventing this kind of unnecessary conflict, because it is the source of most organizational grief. And, believe it or not, it CAN be prevented to a great degree. We can be less concerned about the conflict that occurs due to legitimate differences of opinion, although we need to address how to conduct those kinds of discussions so they don't escalate into destructive personalized conflicts. Conflict in the workplace is inevitable and occurs because people care about what they are doing.
Workplace conflict can be productive or non-productive.
It can help people and teams grow, or it can retard growth, waste huge amounts of time, and make workplace life miserable. Whether disagreement results in good or ugly outcomes depends on how the disagreements are handled and whether conflicts are necessary and important to getting things done.