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 results of analyzing BVRI CCD photometry of the spiral galaxies NGC 7339, NGC 7537, and NGC 7541 are presented using the observations acquired with the 1.88m Kottamia telescope (Egypt). The overall structure of the galaxies is analyzed together with isophotal contour maps. The surface brightness profiles of the galaxies are decomposed to bulge and disk components by fitting a de Vaucouleurs law for the bulge and an exponential law for the disk to obtain photometric parameters for each component. The corrected total and absolute magnitudes and integrated color are also obtained and found to be close to the published values. The radial profiles of ellipticity, major-axis position angle, and color are also obtained and discussed.
The preliminary test of the compounds N [2– (3,4–dimethoxy nitrobenzene oxazepine– 2,3–dihydro–4,7–dione]–5–mercupto–2–amino–1,3,4–thiadiazol [A] and N [ 2–anthralidene– 5– ( 2–nitrophenyl ) –1,3–oxazepine–4,7–dione–2–d](5–mercapto–1,3,4–thiadiazole–2–amin) [B] , showed that they possess high activity against some positive and negative bacteria , like pseudomonas aeruginosa (pseudo.), Escherichia coli (E-coli), staphylococcus aureus (sta.) and Bacillus subtilis (Ba.) and finally there is a study of the effect of some antibiotics like streptomycin (S), gentamycin (GN), chloramphenicol (C) and Nalitixic acid (NA) in order to compare the differences in effects. In the present study, results
... Show MoreThat the electronic payments system plays an important role in the effectiveness of commercial banks by attracting domestic or foreign investors, especially in the banking sector , It must keep abreast of global developments and technology in the field of banking that lead to the effectiveness of the bank by providing modern banking services and good customer service that improves the reputation of the bank, as well as develop its activities and promotes economic development at the country level , The technological progress of the bank will increase the speed of conducting banking operations, accuracy and safer , here should be laws and regulations related to electronic payment systems keep pace with the la
... Show MoreThis study aims to recognize the most common thinking styles and level of the need for cognitive university students , the relation between thinking styles and the need for cognitive, and there are differences according to gender .The sample consists of (250) males and females university students for the academic year (2013-2014), and the researcher uses two scales;" thinking styles scale (Harison &Bramson, 1986), and the need for cognitive scale" (Cacioppo, Petty & Kao , 1996).
The results show that there is difference in the range of the prevalence of the thinking styles among university students , the scientific thinking style is the most common , the students have got the arrange level of the need for cognitive , and there
Depletion of fossil fuel is one of the main reasons why the bioethanol has become popular. It is a renewable energy source. In order to meet the great demand of bioethanol, it is best that the bioethanol production is from cheap raw materials. Since the golden shower fruit is not being utilized and is considered as waste material, hence, this study was conducted to make use of the large volume of the residue as feedstock to test its potential for bioethanol extraction.The main goal of this study is to obtain the most volume of bioethanol from the golden shower fruit liquid residue by the factors, days of fermentation (3, 5, and 7 days) and sugar concentration (15, 20 and 25 brix) of the liquid residue. Also, part of the study is to compu
... Show MoreThe influence of an aortic aneurysm on blood flow waveforms is well established, but how to exploit this link for diagnostic purposes still remains challenging. This work uses a combination of experimental and computational modelling to study how aneurysms of various size affect the waveforms. Experimental studies are carried out on fusiform-type aneurysm models, and a comparison of results with those from a one-dimensional fluid–structure interaction model shows close agreement. Further mathematical analysis of these results allows the definition of several indicators that characterize the impact of an aneurysm on waveforms. These indicators are then further studied in a computational model of a systemic blood flow network. This demonstr
... Show MoreAim: The study designed to evaluate the Geno-protective effect of green tea extract against genotoxicity induced by metronidazole and tinidazole. Methods: Thirty-six mice were used, For each experiment, The animals divided into 6 groups: Group I- Negative control administered distilled water; Group II-Healthy mice treated with metronidazole alone, Group III- Healthy mice treated with tinidazole alone; Group IV- Healthy mice administered green tea extract alone Group V- Healthy mice treated with metronidazole, followed by green tea extract administration, Group VI- Healthy mice treated with tinidazole, followed by administration of green tea extract. Results: treatment with Tinidazole significantly increase total chromosomal aberration (0.18
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