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 need to constantly and consistently improve the quality and quantity of the educational system is essential. E-learning has emerged from the rapid cycle of change and the expansion of new technologies. Advances in information technology have increased network bandwidth, data access speed, and reduced data storage costs. In recent years, the implementation of cloud computing in educational settings has garnered the interest of major companies, leading to substantial investments in this area. Cloud computing improves engineering education by providing an environment that can be accessed from anywhere and allowing access to educational resources on demand. Cloud computing is a term used to describe the provision of hosting services
... Show MoreThe survey showed sample opinions of officials in the general company for vegetable oils industry, and the statement of the order of the effect of these dimensions depending on the degree of importance, the questionnaire was used as a key tool in collecting data and information of the sample consisted of 30 officials, arithmetic mean, standard deviation, percentages, Spearman correlation coefficient and the global statistical analysis as a statistical methods that based on statistical program (SPSS), The researcher came to several conclusions, most important that there is high agreement by the respondents of the importance of the dimensions of building a mental picture of the company and to attract the consumer's attention, Also research
... Show MoreThis work is focused on studying the effect of liquid layer level (height above a target material) on zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO and ZnO2) production using liquid-phase pulsed laser ablation (LP-PLA) technique. A plate of Zn metal inside different heights of an aqueous environment of cetyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (CTAB) with molarity (10-3 M) was irradiated with femtosecond pulses. The effect of liquid layer height on the optical properties and structure of ZnO was studied and characterized through UV-visible absorption test at three peaks at 213 nm, 216 nm and 218 nm for three liquid heights 4, 6 and 8 mm respectively. The obtained results of UV–visible spectra test show a blue shift accomp
... Show MoreThe research represents an applied study to the urban scene of Baghdad city center within the area of (Al Bab Al Sharqi – Al Tahrir Square) through studying and identifying the levels of the reciprocal correlation of advertising signs impact on urban scene , then finding out the indicators and potential values which have made advertising signs as positive value by achieving the mechanisms of visual quality or a negative value by achieving mechanisms of visual pollution. And then examining the resulted visual perception defect reforming mechanism from it and identify the basic elements represented of the laws and legislation known worldwide. When presenting the problem, The research depends on: (Lack of clear perception
... Show MoreThe relationship between the elements of the climate and the productivity of citrus (kg
/ tree) in the province of Karbala has been determined through the use of simple correlation
coefficient of Pearson (rp) and (t) test. The result for each of oranges, limes and tangerine had
all shown moral and relevant statistical indications; except for relative humidity, which were
not linked to a moral relationship with productivity of tangerine, oranges and limes.As for the
relationship between climatic factors and yield of bitter orange were all not significant
statistically and very weak.
In order to determine the strength of the correlation between fluctuations in the
climatic elements and fluctuations in the productivi
Excessive skewness which occurs sometimes in the data is represented as an obstacle against normal distribution. So, recent studies have witnessed activity in studying the skew-normal distribution (SND) that matches the skewness data which is regarded as a special case of the normal distribution with additional skewness parameter (α), which gives more flexibility to the normal distribution. When estimating the parameters of (SND), we face the problem of the non-linear equation and by using the method of Maximum Likelihood estimation (ML) their solutions will be inaccurate and unreliable. To solve this problem, two methods can be used that are: the genetic algorithm (GA) and the iterative reweighting algorithm (IR) based on the M
... Show MoreBackgrround:: Cholera is gastroenteritis caused by enterotoxin producing Vibrio cholera. Cholera is predominantly a waterborne disease especially in countries with inadequate sanitation. Several rapid methods have been developed and used to detect V. cholerae serotypes directly from stools.
Objjecttiives:: to evaluate a rapid and accurate method for the diagnosis of cholera caused by V. cholerae O1 and O139 serogroups d to find the incidence of sporadic cases of cholera in Baghdad.
Metthods:: Sixty four stool samples were collected from four hospitals in Baghdad. The age of patients ranging from two months to 12 years, 26 were females and 38 males. Immunochromatographic visual test for qualitative detection of O1 and /or O139 serog
Hemogloin (Hb) and serum ferritin levels are used to assess anemia in pregnancy. Some studies referred to the influence of maternal age, body mass index (BMI) and parity on Hb and serum ferritin levels. The study aimed to examine the possible association of maternal Hb and serum ferritin with maternal age, parity, and BMI in a sample of pregnant women in Baghdad.
Ninety healthy pregnant women, grouped in three equal groups according to the pregnancy trimester, and thirty apparently healthy non-pregnant women from Baghdad were enrolled in this observational study. Blood and serum samples were obtained for the estimation of Hb and serum ferritin levels.
The pooled data of participants showed a n
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