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 research investigates the political effect and its directions on the architectural thoughts and its achievements and how can this political system affect all fields of life in communities including architectural urban design. The problem of the research lies in the ambiguity effects of the ideological national directions of the Nazi Party on the architecture and urban design of the city of Berlin, then determining the aims of the research to discuss the concepts of politics and architecture and their relation to the way of thinking that plays a role in the process of design that works on property and achieving the suitable urban environments for those communities. After that, the Nazi's party's thought would be studied and analyzed,
... Show MoreSummary:
This research revolves around the probing of those whom Ibn Hajar said, "He has a vision", its significance, and the ruling on the connection and transmission to it. The number of narrators reached fifty-one (51) narrators, among whom it was said, “He has a vision, whether it is definite or possibly. Some of them had a vision and companionship.”They are eleven (11) narrators, And among them were those who had visions and had no company, and their number was twenty-one (21) narrators, and among them were those who had no vision and nor company, and their number is nineteen (19) narrators.
As a result , whoever said about him “has a vision” and has companions, his hadith is connected, even i
Cities have witnessed great changes since the planning of the first cities. This is due to the increase in population and problems in services that affect urban security. As such, urban security is directed and affected by the nature of city planning and the types of services. Besides, the kind of services plays an imminent place in providing urban security at all levels. Other factors that influence urban security can be limited to the increase of population, economic and social changes. This leads to losing urban control. This study will explore the historical chronology to identify weaknesses in urban planning since its dawn and reaching solutions to protect urban security. The importance of the research lies in achieving urban securi
... Show MoreCities have witnessed great changes since the planning of the first cities. This is due to the increase in population and problems in services which affect urban security. As such, urban security is directed and affected by the nature of city planning and the types of services. Besides, the kind of services plays an imminent place in providing urban security at all levels. Other factors that influence urban security can be limited to the increase of population, economic and social changes. This leads to losing urban control. This study will explore the historical chronology to identify weaknesses in urban planning since its dawn and reaching solutions to protect urban security. The importance of the research lies in achieving urban secur
... Show MoreOne of the most important challenges facing the development of laser weapons is represented by the attenuation of the laser beam as it passed through the layers of atmosphere.This paper presents a theoretical study to simulate the effect of turbulence attenuation and calculates the decrease of laser power in Iraq. The refractive index structure C_n^2 is very important parameter to measure the strength of the atmospheric turbulence, which is affected by microclimate conditions, propagation path, season and time in the day. The results of measurements and predictions are based on the Kolmogorov turbulence theory. It was demonstrated by simulations that the laser weapons in Iraq were severely affected due to the large change in temperatures,
... 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
... Show MoreAbstract
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 MoreBackground: One of the drawbacks of vital teeth bleaching is color stability. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the effects of tea and tomato sauce on the color stability of bleached enamel in association with the application of MI Paste Plus (CPP-ACPF). Materials and Methods: Sixty enamel samples were bleached with 10% carbamide peroxide for two weeks then divided into three groups (A, B and C) of 20 samples each. After bleaching, the samples of each group were subdivided into two subgroups (n=10). While subgroups A1, B1 and C1 were kept in distilled water, A2, B2, and C2 were treated with MI Paste Plus. Then, the samples were immersed in different solutions as follow: A1 and A2 in distilled water (control); B1 and B2 in black
... Show More