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 ideas and information obtained by the viewer in the cinema have always been the source of the visual image, but that doesn’t negate the fact that the mental image can produce a lot of the information and ideas in the cinematic art and the most important means to achieve this mental image in the film is the eloquent cinematic sound. This research is conducted to show this important and effective contribution of the sound in the production of the mental image. Hence the importance of this research is in that it addresses an important issue which is the eloquent performance of the sound and its role in the production of the mental image inside the space of the feature film. This research concerns those working the field of cinema and
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Phoenix dactylifera l. pinnae (the green leaves of dates palm) were used as natural reinforcing (strengthening) fibers to improve the mechanical properties of polyester as a matrix material, the fibers of the green leaves of dates palm were used in two lengths, 10 and 20mm with five rates of 0, 2.5, 5, 10, and 20% , where the reinforcing with the leaves fibers increases the hardness strength from 76.5 to be about 86.55 , the Impact value raised from about 0.313 to 0.461 , in addition to that the flexural strength from 2.66 to be about 55 , and the thermal conductivity increases from 2.54 𝑤∕𝑚.℃ to 5.41 𝑤∕𝑚.℃. The results of the present search explains that the composite samples reinforced at rate 20% and 10mm fiber length
... Show MoreA Laced Reinforced Concrete (LRC) structural element comprises continuously inclined shear reinforcement in the form of lacing that connects the longitudinal reinforcements on both faces of the structural element. This study conducted a theoretical investigation of LRC deep beams to predict their behavior after exposure to fire and high temperatures. Four simply supported reinforced concrete beams of 1500 mm, 200 mm, and 240 mm length, width, and depth, respectively, were considered. The specimens were identical in terms of compressive strength ( 40 MPa) and steel reinforcement details. The same laced steel reinforcement ratio of 0.0035 was used. Three specimens were burned at variable durations and steady-state temperatures (one
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Dissolution of gypsum rock in water is significant, which may result in hydrocarbon reservoir formation and evaporate deposits. However, the complexity of the gypsum dissolution process is still of interest because of its uncleanness that requires more critical analysis. The objectives of this experimental study are emphasis on the dissolution characteristics of gypsum rock under room temperature and by various types of water; namely: deionized, tap, fresh, acidic, well, and normal rainwatre. In addition, the influences of dissolution on gypsum rock's mechanical and physical characteristics. Gypsum rock was obtained from Agjalar area, in the southwest of Sulaymaniyah city, Northern Iraq. Experimental results show that we
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This contribution provides an atomistic understanding into the impact of W, Nb, and Mo co-substitution at Hf-site of cubic HfO2 lattice to produce Hf1−xTMxO2 system at x = 25%. The calculations have been performed under the framework of density functional theory supported by Habbured parameter (DFT+U). Structural analysis demonstrates that the recorded lattice constants is in good coherence with the previously published results. For the lattice parameters, contraction by 1.33% comparing with the host system has been reported. Furthermore, the doping effect of TM on the band gap leads to its reduction in the resulting Hf0.75TM0.25O2 configurations. The partial density of states (PDOS) indicate that hybridization through localized electroni
... Show MoreThis work presents a five-period chaotic system called the Duffing system, in which the effect of changing the initial conditions and system parameters d, g and w, on the behavior of the chaotic system, is studied. This work provides a complete analysis of system properties such as time series, attractors, and Fast Fourier Transformation Spectrum (FFT). The system shows periodic behavior when the initial conditions xi and yi equal 0.8 and 0, respectively, then the system becomes quasi-chaotic when the initial conditions xi and yi equal 0 and 0, and when the system parameters d, g and w equal 0.02, 8 and 0.09. Finally, the system exhibits hyperchaotic behavior at the first two conditions, 0 and 0, and the bandwidth of the chaotic
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Low grade crude palm oil (LGCPO) presents as an attractive option as feedstock for biodiesel production due to its low cost and non-competition with food resources. Typically, LGCPO contains high contents of free fatty acids (FFA), rendering it impossible in direct trans-esterification processes due to the saponification reaction. Esterification is the typical pre-treatment process to reduce the FFA content and to produce fatty acid methyl ester (FAME). The pre-treatment of LGCPO using two different acid catalysts, such as titanium oxysulphate sulphuric acid complex hydrate (TiOSH) and 5-sulfosalicylic acid dihydrate (5-SOCAH) was investigated for the first time in this study. The optimum conditions for the homogenous catalyst (5-SOCAH) wer
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