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.
This work analyzes the impact of MgO nanoparticles on the properties of an epoxy resin solution with uniform structure and particular degree of cure synthesized by the reaction of epoxy resin and pyromellitic dianhydride. Various concentrations of epoxy/MgO nanocomposites were fabricated by mechanical mixing, ultrasonication-based dispersion and casting processes. FTIR results have shown clear differences in the vibrations of C-H, epoxide rings, and main amine N-H groups. This confirms the interaction between MgO particles and the epoxy polymer matrix. X-ray diffraction analysis detected prominent peak at 18.35 degrees, along with additional ones at 43.44 degrees and 62.56 degrees, associated with the (200) and (220) planes of MgO crystal,
... Show More
(9)
(3)
Nowadays, energy demand continuously rises while energy stocks are dwindling. Using current resources more effectively is crucial for the world. A wide method to effectively utilize energy is to generate electricity using thermal gas turbines (GT). One of the most important problems that gas turbines suffer from is high ambient air temperature especially in summer. The current paper details the effects of ambient conditions on the performance of a gas turbine through energy audits taking into account the influence of ambient conditions on the specific heat capacity ( , isentropic exponent ( ) as well as the gas constant of air . A computer program was developed to examine the operation of a power plant at various ambient temperature
... Show More
(6)
(3)
AlO-doped ZnO nanocrystalline thin films from with nano crystallite size in the range (19-15 nm) were fabricated by pulsed laser deposition technique. The reduction of crystallite size by increasing of doping ratio shift the bandgap to IR region the optical band gap decreases in a consistent manner, from 3.21to 2.1 eV by increasing AlO doping ratio from 0 to 7wt% but then returns to grow up to 3.21 eV by a further increase the doping ratio. The bandgap increment obtained for 9% AlO dopant concentration can be clarified in terms of the Burstein–Moss effect whereas the aluminum donor atom increased the carrier's concentration which in turn shifts the Fermi level and widened the bandgap (blue-shift). The engineering of the bandgap by
... Show More
(1)
(7)
(6)
يختبر البحث الحالي التأثيرات المشتركة للإشعاع بالموجات فوق الصوتية والمادة المانحة للهيدروجين على لزوجة النفط الخام الثقيل. تمت دراسة تأثير زمن التعرض للموجات فوق الصوتية والطاقة ودورة التشغيل ودرجة الحرارة على لزوجة النفط الخام العراقي الثقيل الذي يملك قيمة .20.32 = API كما تم فحص لزوجة عينات النفط الخام التي تم خلطها بمانح الهيدروجين (Decalin) وإخضاعها للمعالجة بالموجات فوق الصوتية في ظل الظروف المثا
... Show More
(5)
(3)
Silica-based mesoporous materials are a class of porous materials with unique characteristics such as ordered pore structure, large surface area, and large pore volume. This review covers the different types of porous material (zeolite and mesoporous) and the physical properties of mesoporous materials that make them valuable in industry. Mesoporous materials can be divided into two groups: silica-based mesoporous materials and non-silica-based mesoporous materials. The most well-known family of silica-based mesoporous materials is the Mesoporous Molecular Sieves family, which attracts attention because of its beneficial properties. The family includes three members that are differentiated based on their pore arrangement. In this review,
... Show More
(2)
In this research, the seasonal Optimal Reliable Frequency (ORF) variations between different transmitter/receiver stations have been determined. Mosul, Baghdad, and Basra have been chosen as tested transmitting stations that located in the northern, center, and southern of Iraqi zone. In this research, the minimum and maximum years (2009 and 2014) of solar cycle 24 have been chosen to examine the effect of solar activity on the determined seasonal ORF parameter. Mathematical model has been proposed which leads to generate the Optimal Reliable Frequency that can maintain the seasonal connection links for different path lengths and bearings. The suggested ORF parameter represented by a different orders polynomial equation. The polynom
... Show More
(2)
Researchers have increased interest in recent years in determining the optimum sample size to obtain sufficient accuracy and estimation and to obtain high-precision parameters in order to evaluate a large number of tests in the field of diagnosis at the same time. In this research, two methods were used to determine the optimum sample size to estimate the parameters of high-dimensional data. These methods are the Bennett inequality method and the regression method. The nonlinear logistic regression model is estimated by the size of each sampling method in high-dimensional data using artificial intelligence, which is the method of artificial neural network (ANN) as it gives a high-precision estimate commensurate with the dat
... Show More
Abstract
The study aims to identify the common fears of preschool children and their relationship to the approaches to parental treatment in South Al Batinah Governorate from their mother’s point of view. Total of (466) mothers were selected as the study sample. The researcher used the scale of common fear and the scale of parental treatment approaches. The results of the study have shown that the most common fear among the study sample was (the fear of darkness) in the first level with a rate of 75.03%, and in the second level came the item (my child is afraid to sleep alone) by 72.74%, in the third level came to the item (fear of seeing insects) with a rate of 67.59%, and the last one was (the fear of rain) w
... Show More