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Dysfunctionality in Management & Leadership in SHPs (Social Housing Providers) in the UK: Insights using a Critical Realist (CR) Analytical Approach
Abstract
Social Housing Providers (SHPs) are organisations in the UK that own and manage social housing that is predominantly rented to people who have a need for accommodation but cannot access it on the open market. The main provider of social housing in the early and middle part of the Twentieth Centuries was the state but this role was taken over by SHPs in the later part of the Twentieth Century following the forces of the market being applied from the 1980s onwards. The nature of SHPs, their operational cultures, the way they are managed and the functioning of their leadership reflects the changes that they have faced. In this article SHPs are reviewed in terms of the management and leadership processes that have been adopted by them and how these approaches are viewed at a practical and operational level. Through the philosophy of Critical Realism (CR) the article looks at how these management and leadership approaches can by dysfunctional to the organisations where they are in place and across the housing sector.
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