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.
Background: This in vitro study evaluated the effect of canal dryness and flaring on the accuracy of two electronic apex locators for working length (WL) determination. Materials and methods: Sixty extracted teeth were used, after access opening was done, the occlusal surface was flattened to create stable reference point. The teeth were randomly divided into two equal main groups of flared and unflared group each one of 30 teeth. The flaring was done with Gates Glidden drills. The two main groups were further subdivided into two subgroups: dry canal and wet canal using 5.25% sodium hypochlorite groups, Electronic WL of each sample was determined using both Root ZX and i-Root apex locator. Consequently, histologic WL was determined by shav
... Show MoreThe Eurasia Proceedings of Science Technology Engineering and Mathematics | Volume: 6
This study was conducted on species composition, morphology, ecological characteristics, biotope distribution, ecological groups, biodiversity indicators and zoogeography of leeches and gastropods distributed in the lower Ak-Buura River. According to the results, it was found that 7 species of leeches belonging to 4 families and 6 genera and 10 species of fresh-water gastropods belonging to 3 families and 6 genera live in the lower Ak-Buura River. In the river, it was observed that leeches are mainly distributed in muddy biotopes, and gastropods are widespread in muddy, stony and sandy biotopes with a lot of plants. Biodiversity indices of leeches and gastropods in the Ak-Buura River were analyzed using the Shannon index. As a result, it
... Show More
(7)
(3)
This study aims to investigate the relationship between corporate governance (CG) and audit quality (AQ) in the adequacy of the value relevance of accounting information (VRAI). The study sample included Iraqi firms listed on the Iraqi Stock Exchange (ISE) from 2010 to 2022. Nineteen firms were a research sample selected from 44 firms listed on the ISE. They chose to use the model (Ohlson, 1995) in measuring VRAI, which is based on measuring the absolute value of the level of value relevance to earnings per share (EPS) the absolute value of the book value suitability level VRAI. CG was measured through five factors: board size, gender of board members, independence of the board from the chief executive officer (CEO), ownership perce
... Show More
Low- and medium-carbon structural steel components face random vibration and dynamic loads (like earthquakes) in many applications. Thus a modification to improve their mechanical properties, essentially damping properties, is required. The present study focuses on improving and developing these properties, significantly dampening properties, without losing the other mechanical properties. The specimens used in the present study are structural steel ribbed bar ISO 6935 subjected to heating temperatures of (850, 950, and 1050) ˚C, and cooling schemes of annealing, normalizing, sand, and quenching was selected. The damping properties of the specimens were measured experimentally with the area under the curve for the loadi
... Show More
Aeromonas hydrophila have been isolated as a cause of a cute gastroenteritis in 23 (5.6%) of 410 patients. Other bacterial enteropathogens have been isolated from 387 patients with diarrhea, were 19 different strains. A. hydrophila occurred more commonly in children with acute diarrhea, the results showed that 18(78.26%) isolates of A. hydrophila found in children under 10 years old ,distributed to 10(43.47%) in male and 8(34.78%) in female ,and in adults with diarrhea 5 (21.73%). In the other hand, we noticed frequency of isolation was higher in male 14(60.86%) when compared with 9(39.14%) in female. Six strains of A. hydrophila have been observed to have bacteriocin activity against 12 of 23 different A. hydrophila ,as well as Staphy
... Show More
As long as the place in which a person lives has a meaning and temporal dimensions , memory is the main axis of these dimensions , today , city centers and old historical sectors of cities are abandoned , and began to turn into slums , the contradiction between old and historical sectors led cities to lose their identity while people lost their sense of belongingness to the old sectors where their ancestors used to live . The old city of Hilla used to have social , historical and cultural role on determining the identity . The study problem can be summarized as the ( lack of studies regarding the impact of historical memory related to Hilla old city on social and cultural mobility ) , the study hypothesis claims that the social , histori
... Show MoreThe current study involves placing 135 boreholes drilled to a depth of 10 m below the existing ground level. Three standard penetration tests (SPT) are performed at depths of 1.5, 6, and 9.5 m for each borehole. To produce thematic maps with coordinates and depths for the bearing capacity variation of the soil, a numerical analysis was conducted using MATLAB software. Despite several-order interpolation polynomials being used to estimate the bearing capacity of soil, the first-order polynomial was the best among the other trials due to its simplicity and fast calculations. Additionally, the root mean squared error (RMSE) was almost the same for the all of the tried models. The results of the study can be summarized by the production
... Show More
(22)
Plant extracts occupied a big place in diseases treatment and preserving human health because, they contain many active substances that can be exploited in the field of pharmaceutical manufacturing from natural materials. Therefore, this study was conducted to evaluate the effect of different concentrations of plant extracts for each of Nigella sativa, Alliumsativum and Allium cepa against the fungal growth of Candida albicans that cause many skin diseases and infections to humans as well as Trichophyton mentagrophytes, which affects the hair, skin and nails. These two fungi have been isolated and diagnosed from people who have skin infection. Both fungal isolates were treated with extracts of Nigella sativa, Alliumsativum and Allium cepa
... Show More
(2)