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.
Material obtained from the demolition of concrete structures and milling of flexible pavements has the highest potential for recyclability. This study aimed to evaluate the performance of hot mix asphalt with the concurrent use of recycled asphalt pavement (RAP) and recycled concrete aggregate (RCA). Contents of RAP and RCA were varied from 0% to 50% by fixing the total recycling materials percentage to 50%. Penetration grade 40/50 virgin binder and waste engine oil (WEO) as rejuvenator were used in the present study. A series of tests, such as Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Marshall stability, indirect tensile strength test, IDEAL CT, uniaxial compression test, and resilient modulus test, were carried out to assess the performance of
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Copper oxide thin films were deposited on glass substrate using Successive Ionic Layer Adsorption and Reaction (SILAR) method at room temperature. The thickness of the thin films was around 0.43?m.Copper oxide thin films were annealed in air at (200, 300 and 400°C for 45min.The film structure properties were characterized by x-ray diffraction (XRD). XRD patterns indicated the presence of polycrystalline CuO. The average grain size is calculated from the X-rays pattern, it is found that the grain size increased with increasing annealing temperature. Optical transmitter microscope (OTM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) was also used. Direct band gap values of 2.2 eV for an annealed sample and (2, 1.5, 1.4) eV at 200, 300,400oC respect
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Bootstrap is one of an important re-sampling technique which has given the attention of researches recently. The presence of outliers in the original data set may cause serious problem to the classical bootstrap when the percentage of outliers are higher than the original one. Many methods are proposed to overcome this problem such Dynamic Robust Bootstrap for LTS (DRBLTS) and Weighted Bootstrap with Probability (WBP). This paper try to show the accuracy of parameters estimation by comparison the results of both methods. The bias , MSE and RMSE are considered. The criterion of the accuracy is based on the RMSE value since the method that provide us RMSE value smaller than other is con
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In this paper, double Sumudu and double Elzaki transforms methods are used to compute the numerical solutions for some types of fractional order partial differential equations with constant coefficients and explaining the efficiently of the method by illustrating some numerical examples that are computed by using Mathcad 15.and graphic in Matlab R2015a.
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The posterior regions of the jaws usually represent a significant risk for implant surgery. A non-valid assessment of the available bone height may lead to either perforation of the maxillary sinus floor or encroachment of the inferior alveolar nerve and consequently to implant failure. This study aimed to evaluate the reliability of surgeon’s decision in appraising the appropriate implant length, in respect to vital anatomical structures, using panoramic radiographs.
Only implants that are inserted in relation to the maxillary sinus (MS) or the mandibular canal (MC) were enrolled
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The Cu2SiO3 composite has been prepared from the binary compounds (Cu2O, and SiO2) with high purity by solid state reaction. The Cu2SiO3 thin films were deposited at room temperature on glass and Si substrates with thickness 400 nm by pulsed laser deposition method. X-ray analysis showed that the powder of Cu2SiO3 has a polycrystalline structure with monoclinic phase and preferred orientation along (111) direction at 2θ around 38.670o which related to CuO phase. While as deposited and annealed Cu2SiO3 films have amorphous structure. The morphological study revealed that the grains have granular and elliptical shape, with average diameter of 163.63 nm. The electrical properties which represent Hall effect were investigated. Hall coeffici
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The subject of this research involves studying adsorption to removal herbicide Atlantis WG from aqueous solutions by bentonite clay. The equilibrium concentration have been determined spectra photometry by using UV-Vis spectrophotometer. The experimental equilibrium sorption data were analyzed by two widely, Langmuir and Freundlish isotherm models. The Langmuir model gave a better fit than Freundlich model The adsorption amount of (Atlantis WG) increased when the temperature and pH decreased. The thermodynamic parameters like ?G, ?H, and ?S have been calculated from the effect of temperature on adsorption process, is exothermic. The kinetic of adsorption process was studied depending on Lagergren ,Morris ? Weber and Rauschenberg equati
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The aim of this research is to know how business organizations achieve competitive advantage ,and make it sustainable through constructing a green strategy ( friend to environment) which is reflected on sustaining their competitive advantages .The problem of this study is presented through trying to answer many thoughtful questions, the most important of them are:
1-Can business organizations today make green strategies supporting their competitive advantage?
2-Is there a framework or mechanism could be depended on by business organizations to manage strategic risks of losing their competit
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