As the article states conflict in an organization that is controlled is healthy. However, my experience with political infighting has typically been negative. It normally quickly spirals out of control as various people attempt to get the upper hand, back-stabbing ensues, and the workers become pawns in a dangerous game of chess. This creates very high stress levels that causes burn-out. The conflict must be contained in a manner that concerns a specific topic and not just in an attempt to look better than another person. While that appears to be a great way to create competition, many people will not just look at doing a better job themselves, but find a way to actually derail the other person's work. That is not healthy for a company at all.

If the political infighting has gotten to the point that people are complaining about it, it's probably past the control point. Providing training on how to properly handle conflicts between people might be a great idea to bring things back to a manageable level.