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: Chief complaint of patients attending dental clinic represents the first step towards treatment plan. However, most of patients are not aware but the extent and severity of periodontal disease, which could be also, misdiagnose by the dentist. Aim of the study: To investigate whether reported chief complaint(s) are consistent with oral hygiene status Materials and methods: Records of 1102 patients, attending periodontics clinics in the college of dentistry/ university of Baghdad, were used to determine ten most commonly reported chief complaints. Sample of patients was further subdivided according to gender and age. In addition, plaque and gingival index were recorded to determine oral hygiene status. Results: Patients mostly
... Show More
(4)
(5)
on the subject of the provisions of recitation among students of the Islamic Sciences Colleges).
The researchers adopted the experimental method and chose an experimental design for the two equivalent groups by post-test. The research sample consisted of (60) male and female students from (second stage) - Department of Qur’an Sciences and Islamic Education - University of Diyala, and the two researchers were rewarded between the two groups of research in the following variables: (Chronological age calculated in months, degrees of recitation rulings subject in the previous year, the two researchers studied the same research groups, and lasted for an entire semester, the researchers prepared the observation card to measure the ru
... Show MoreThis study aimed to know the impact of the capital structure measured by the ratio of financing to short-term capital and the ratio of financing to long-term capital on the profitability of companies, as measured by the rate of return on assets and the rate of return on equity. The study was applied to industrial sector companies listed in the Iraq Stock Exchange. The financial number of (14) companies, and (4) companies were selected that met the conditions for selecting the study sample. The study methodology relies on the analytical method as it is more appropriate to the nature, scope and objectives of the study, and the ready-made statistical program "SPSS" will be used to analyze the relationships and influence between the
... Show MoreCantilever beams are used in many crucial applications in machinery and construction. For example, the airplane wing, the microscopic probe for atomic force measurement, the tower crane overhang and twin overhang folding bridge are typical examples of cantilever beams. The current research aims to develop an analytical solution for the free vibration problem of cantilever beams. The dynamic response of AISI 304 beam represented by the natural frequencies was determined under different working surrounding temperatures ((-100 ℃ to 400 ℃)). A Matlab code was developed to achieve the analytical solution results, considering the effect of some beam geometrical dimensions. The developed analytical solution has been verified successful
... Show More
The importance of knowledge is represented in the use of various sources of information, the corresponding to the same level of importance is the use of modern means and technologies in the delivery and investment of these sources to the beneficiaries, among these means and technologies are the multimedia that deal with most of the human senses, but the most important of which is sight and hearing, if these are invested the means in the field of education will give many positive results, such as the speed of receiving information, its clarity, and its freedom from impurities and influences, as well as its stability in memory as it is based on nderstanding, not memorization. On this basis, the experience of supporting the education process
... Show MoreThe urban Gentrification is an inclusive global phenomenon to restructure the cities on the overall levels, the research to propose a specific study about the concept of urban Gentrification in the cities and showcasing its, specifications, and results, and how to deal with the variables that occur on cities through improvements as part of urban renewal projects, then the general axis of the research is shrinked, choosing the urban centers as the most important areas that deal with the urban Gentrification process due to its direct connection with indivisuals and social changes, and to process the specific axis of the research theses and studies will be showcased that discuss the topic in different research directions, and emerged
... Show MoreThe problem of the study was to identify the possibility of benefiting from the application of the target cost system as a modern cost system to activate the environmental cost management instead of the traditional systems used in the company due to the great transformations witnessed by the business environment in all fields, which have resulted in the search for modern systems to provide more accurate and more appropriate information to reduce Costs, because accurate information makes the company have a complete vision to achieve the company’s goals. To solve this problem, the research was based on the following hypothesis (that the role of the target cost system leads to the activation of environmental cost management). Target c
... Show MoreRepresents a supervisory and oversight role of the Central Bank towards finding a sober banking sector, as the procedures , regulations and laws that the Central Bank insists on its implementation with the utmost precision, and that was to protect depositors and shareholders' class basis rights, but it is in the interest of the bank in the end, as it seeks to improve the performance of commercial banks and vaccinated against falling into the blunders, they also contribute to building a sober and stable banking sector and security contributes to the welfare and employment optimization of economic resources, and treatment of research (and the presence of banks decline in financial performance, according to financial performance indic
... Show MoreThis letter dealt with one of the most prominent verbal and contractual issues, which are the similarities of the legal texts, or the so-called news features. The scholars differed as to their interpretation. Most of the verbal schools went on to interpret these texts in a valid interpretation according to the data of the Arabic language, in order to preserve them from the divine self's pronouncement of similar creatures, while we find that the ancestors kept it on its surface with delegating its meanings to God Almighty. This is what Burhan al-Din al-Kurani suggested in this letter, declaring his total rejection of interpretation.