Globalisation and rapid environmental change have created many challenges for public and private organisations across Iraq as a developing country, particularly in the higher education sector. This includes, for example, decreases in government funding; increased demand for higher education; a need for economic transformation, and related competitiveness of organizations. Such challenges require exceptional leaders and strategic planning in order to take action to improve. In Iraq, the higher education sector is still one of the main foundations in progressing the knowledge economy. Studies into leadership style, strategic planning processes, and the importance of leadership and organisational culture to an organisation’s success have been used to assist both public and private Iraqi colleges in responding to the challenges they face. Although, some studies have examined the interaction between leadership and strategic planning, and leadership and organisational success, there has been no empirical study that has investigated how these three variables interact together. Thus, this study aimed, firstly, to identify the current leadership styles and strategic planning processes in the colleges and the challenges they faced, and to gain an understanding from the perspective of the senior leaders themselves as to how they might best respond to the current situation. Secondly, based on the participants’ experiences, knowledge and perceptions, the study aimed to identify implications for both practice and policy to help improve the colleges’ outcomes. The study involved a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in two stages. During the first stage, the researcher gathered quantitative data by administering a survey package to 129 leaders (deans, associate deans, and heads of departments) across both public and private colleges in the capital city of Baghdad. During the second stage, the researcher gathered qualitative data to more deeply explore the survey results by conducting individual interviews with a sub-sample of 21 leaders from both college types (ten public and 11 private). In the data analyses stages, both descriptive statistics and inferential statistics were applied to compiling tables and charts, and to test hypotheses, by employing the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS), Microsoft Excel, and NVivo. The results of study showed that both transformational and transactional leadership styles played a varied and vital role in the colleges’ strategic planning processes, and in turn their success. The fact that private colleges were ‘for profit’ and public colleges were ‘not for profit’, as well as their contrasting funding models, highlighted key differences between the two college types’ leadership and general modus operandi. While it was found that both transformative leadership and transactional leadership styles were necessary to address the challenges colleges faced in the Iraqi educational context, the impetus for change extended far beyond the need for professional development of leaders. The embracing of information communication technologies, and reliable Internet was seen as necessary in all aspects of the colleges’ work and provision for teaching and learning, and students’ success. This applied to both college types along with the need for closer adherence to government regulations and more focused government coordination of colleges’ administrative functions. Furthermore, implications for making successful improvements to practice also identified the need to manage the challenge of sociocultural influences on the appointments and promotions of leaders. It was concluded that a greater emphasis on teamwork and provision of incentives for staff, along with a ‘boost’ to pedagogy and practice, which could be provided through the adoption of information communication technologies and appropriate professional development strategies, would enhance the colleges’ ranks and the status of their qualifications. Also, theoretically, the study offers a value-add to leadership, strategic planning process, and organisational success literature in the form of a conceptual model that links these variables in the context of Iraqi higher education sector.
The current research aims to test the relationship of the impact of sustainable leadership as an independent variable in organizational happiness as a dependent variable, in the departments and divisions of the Tourism Authority, to come up with a set of recommendations that contribute to raising the level of organizational happiness in the authority. And based on the importance of the research topic in the General Authority, and the prominent role that this body plays in society, the researcher adopted the descriptive and analytical approach in carrying out this research, by collecting data from the departments and divisions staff of (160) respondents in an exclusively comprehensive
... Show MoreThe interest in art for young ages is seen as an obvious breakthrough and as revealing of psychological and health feelings in addition to emotions, and it is a treatment for those who suffer from behavioral disorders. The problem arose with the following question: What is the role of artistic expression in diagnosing behavioral disorders for primary school pupils? The aim of the research is to detect the behavioral disorders in the artistic expression of the female students' paintings from the teachers' point of view. The descriptive analytical approach was adopted as it is the appropriate method for identifying and estimating the characteristics and features related to people, places and things, and analyzing situations or phenomena as a
... Show MoreLaser assisted skin wound closure offers many distinct advantages over conventional closure
techniques. The objective of this in vitro experimental study, carried out at the Institute of Laser for
Postgraduate Studies/Baghdad University, was to determine the effectiveness of 980 nm diode laser in
welding of human skin wounds. Multiple 3-4 cm long full thickness incisions in a specimen of human
skin obtained from the discarded panniculus of an Abdominoplasty operation were tried to be laser
welded using a 4 mm spot diameter laser beam from a 980 nm diode laser at different laser parameters
and modes of action. The tensile strength at the weld site was analyzed experimentally. Although laser
assisted wound welding did
Background: Aesthetic archwires are used to overcome the aesthetic problems of stainless steel wires but the color of the coating layer can be changed with time when exposed to oral environments. The aim of this study was to evaluate the degree of color change of different aesthetic archwires from different companies under different coloring solutions. Materials and Methods: One hundred fifty samples of coated archwires from three companies (Highland, G&H and Dany) were immersed in 5 solutions (artificial saliva, turmeric, tea, coffee and Miranda) to evaluate the degree of color changes after 7, 14 and 21 days using visible spectrophotometer. Data were collected and analyzed using one way ANOVA and post hoc Tukey’s tests. Resu
... Show MorePurpose – The Cloud computing (CC) and its services have enabled the information centers of organizations to adapt their informatic and technological infrastructure and making it more appropriate to develop flexible information systems in the light of responding to the informational and knowledge needs of their users. In this context, cloud-data governance has become more complex and dynamic, requiring an in-depth understanding of the data management strategy at these centers in terms of: organizational structure and regulations, people, technology, process, roles and responsibilities. Therefore, our paper discusses these dimensions as challenges that facing information centers in according to their data governance and the impa
... Show MoreBackground: The primary stability of the dental implant is a crucial factor determining the ability to initiate temporary implant-supported prosthesis and for subsequent successful osseointegration, especially in the maxillary non-molar sites. This study assessed the reliability of the insertion torque of dental implants by relating it to the implant stability quotient values measured by the Osstell device. Material and methods: This study included healthy, non-smoker patients with no history of diabetes or other metabolic, or debilitating diseases that may affect bone healing, having non-restorable fractured teeth and retained roots in the maxillary non-molar sites. Primary dental implant stability was evaluated using a torque ratc
... Show MoreIn this paper, a cognitive system based on a nonlinear neural controller and intelligent algorithm that will guide an autonomous mobile robot during continuous path-tracking and navigate over solid obstacles with avoidance was proposed. The goal of the proposed structure is to plan and track the reference path equation for the autonomous mobile robot in the mining environment to avoid the obstacles and reach to the target position by using intelligent optimization algorithms. Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) Algorithms are used to finding the solutions of the mobile robot navigation problems in the mine by searching the optimal paths and finding the reference path equation of the optimal
... Show MoreThe importance of Public Relations activity has increased during the last half of the last century as a specialized and modern administrative function in most institutions. It has, moreover, become an integral part of activities of those institutions of various types, due to its pivotal role in building its reputation and drawing a good mental image among its audiences, as well as its influential and basic role in maintaining communication and the communication between its members at its various levels and their job tasks to ensure the greatest amount of understanding and to enhance trust between them. This is why public relations activity has become indispensable in all institutions, and without it, it is difficult to achieve any coordi
... Show MoreThe current problem is summarized in what is called the development failing experience
in comprehencing the studying materials , so the students will feel worry of repeating failure
in he future , so he would seek blind keeping on heart for the studying material bond this isbad due to the forgetting in the future , one side of thesis research problem is that there is
many contradictory researches result in relation to the learning styles which impose the
nessicity to find results lessen this contradiction . the importance of the research is
summarized in the importance of the subject under the study , in that the researcher ( as in
her knowledge ) did not find a thesrs tackling the subject of the distinguished students