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.
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Uropathogenic specific protein is a genotoxic protein targeting the DNA, leading to mutations and modifications in the normal cell's DNA and subsequently, cancer development. This study aims to determine the prevalence of the usp gene in Uropathogenic Escherichia coli isolated from females with urinary tract infections and study its correlation with biofilm formation. One hundred and five urine specimens were collected from female patients (20 to 55 years old) with urinary tract infections attending hospitals. Traditional laboratory methods using selective and differential culture media were used for initial bacterial isolation and identification, and molecular techniques that targeted a segment of the 16SrRNA gene with a specific primer pa
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The inhibition of 3-Benzyl -2-mercaptoquinoizoline -4 (3H)-one (BMQ) on the corrosion of carbon steel in 0.5 M HCl studied by potentionstat polarization methods at 303–333 K. Results obtained show that BMQ act as inhibitor for carbon steel in HCl solution. The inhibition efficiency increase with increase in BMQ concentration. Activation parameters and Gibbs free energy for the adsorption process using Statistical Physics calculated and discussed. Quantum chemical calculations using DFT at the B3LYP/6-31G level of theory were used to calculate some electronic properties of the molecule to verify any correlation between the inhibitive effect and molecular structure of BMQ. The quantum calculations were proceeded to get data around correlati
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Lightweight materials is used in the sheet metal hydroforming process, because it can be adapted to the manufacturing of complex structural components into a single body with high structural stiffness. Sheet hydroforming has been successfully developed in industry such as in the manufacturing of the components of automotive.The aim of this study is to simulate the experimental results ( such as the amount of pressure required to hydroforming process, stresses, and strains distribution) with results of finite element analyses (FEA) (ANSYS 11) for aluminum alloy (AA5652) sheets with thickness (1.2mm) before heat treatm
... Show MoreMeaning letters in Arabic are characterized by the diversity and abundance of their linguistic material, and are also distinguished by their large number and types, to the point that some of them have reached a hundred letters confined to five categories
The electoral mechanism is remarkably clear, a political tool for institutional construction, directing political life, forming the political scene, and forming the partisan scene. This process was through the design of electoral laws, as elections in Tunisian political history represented the indicator of its slow and accelerated transformations, so The elections in Tunisia usually coincide with important political stages, accompanied by legislative or constitutional amendments in general, Islamic or secular forces have played a fundamental role in promoting the democratic experience and the principle of the peaceful transfer of power. This led to the formation of a national consensus that would help the country not enter into political
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The research aims to how to deal with certain situation to ensure the continuous competitive excellence of business market under the situation of covid-19, especially how to deal with major challenges, identifying the capabilities of tourism industry, investigating the ability of tourism agencies to resist the dynamic change of both internal as well as external environment to ensure their sustainability.
The important here as the paper notice, is how to be efficient and trying to find solutions in order to grow and survive through choosing certain strategies that aligned the critical issues.
Thus to achieve this level, many scenarios planed that could adopt in case of such pande
... Show MoreMost studies on deep beams have been made with reinforced concrete deep beams, only a few studies investigate the response of prestressed deep beams, while, to the best of our knowledge, there is not a study that investigates the response of full scale (T-section) prestressed deep beams with large web openings. An experimental and numerical study was conducted in order to investigate the shear strength of ordinary reinforced and partially prestressed full scale (T-section) deep beams that contain large web openings in order to investigate the prestressing existence effects on the deep beam responses and to better understand the effects of prestressing locations and opening depth to beam depth ratio on the deep beam performance and b
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The study aimed to find out the relationship between the dimensions of internal control systems and the availability of an effective governance framework in the Sudanese banks. The study used descriptive and analytical method for collecting and analyzing the study data using SPSS program. The questionnaire was used as an analysis tool. The target sample of Sudanese bank employees, the study found several results, including that the bank avoids methods that lead to the rational use of available resources, and identifies and separation of tasks among employees, in addition to rapid response to reports The study found several recommendations, including the need for a list of banks that are sufficiently flexible and comp
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