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: Many genetic factors are known to be related to osteoporosis, and currently the role of the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1R) gene in bone health has been studied intensively. Some variation of this gene, such as rs1042044 and rs6458093, are known to be linked to metabolic diseases and lower bone mineral density, however their specific contribution to osteoporosis remains largely unexplored. Therefore, this study was conducted to investigate the combined genotypic effect of rs1042044 and rs6458093 as a genetic risk factor for osteoporosis in postmenopausal Iraqi women.METHODS: Blood samples from 75 osteoporosis patients and 75 healthy controls, aged 45-85, were collected. DNA was extracted, and a region of GLP-1R
... Show More
(38)
(37)
A simple, fast, inexpensive and sensitive method has been proposed to screen and optimize experimental factors that effecting the determination of phenylephrine hydrochloride (PHE.HCl) in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. The method is based on the development of brown-colored charge transfer (CT) complex with p-Bromanil (p-Br) in an alkaline medium (pH=9) with 1.07 min after heating at 80 °C. ‘Design of Experiments’ (DOE) employing ‘Central Composite Face Centered Design’ (CCF) and ‘Response Surface Methodology’ (RSM) were applied as an improvement to traditional ‘One Variable at Time’ (OVAT) approach to evaluate the effects of variations in selected factors (volume of 5×10-3 M p-Br, heating time, and temperature) on
... Show More
The field efficacy of Actellic (organophosphate), Neporex (insect growth regulator) and
Ficam (carbamate), at the application rates of 2-4, 0.4-0.8 and 0.1-0.2 g AI/m2 respectively,
was studied against the larvae of Musca domestica L. Results of treatments involving horse
manure indicated that Actellic and Neporex produced sharp decrease of larval numbers (close
to zero) for 21d. But there was a slight recovery in larval numbers 14 d following treatment
with Ficam. The populations of predator mites were not affected due to insecticidal
applications.
In present study the effect of soil extracts of different types of soil on ability of two clinical isolates, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus to form biofilm. The extract of soil was done by using sterile phosphate buffer saline and analyzed by Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopic (FTIR). Spectrophotometric method was used to check ability of the studied isolated bacteria to form biofilm on polystyrene microtiter plates. The data of FTIR showed very little difference was observed among extracts of three types of soil (soil contaminated with hydrocarbons; garden soil collected from gardens of al-jadrea, Baghdad and containers soil), but the highest difference was observed in the extract obtained from peat moss clay soil.
... Show MoreBackground In rheumatoid arthritis, your immune system attacks the tissue lining the joints on both sides of your body. Other parts of the body may also be affected. Unsure of the exact cause. Two separate genes termed IL12A (p35) and IL12 encode the heterodimeric cytokine known as IL12 (p40). Several different hematopoietic cell types can have several different hematopoietic cell types that can generate antigen-presenting cells (APCs), including DCs and macrophages. Objectives This study aimed to investigate if the interleukin IL-12B gene's common polymorphisms in an Iraqi population were associated with RA. Material and methods Blood samples were taken from 70 Iraqi patients with RA illnesses and 30 Iraqi controls during the periods from
... Show MoreAbstract
This study investigates the mechanical compression properties of tin-lead and lead-free alloy spherical balls, using more than 500 samples to identify statistical variability in the properties in each alloy. Isothermal aging was done to study and compare the aging effect on the microstructure and properties.
The results showed significant elastic and plastic anisotropy of tin phase in lead-free tin based solder and that was compared with simulation using a Crystal Plasticity Finite Element (CPEF) method that has the anisotropy of Sn installed. The results and experiments were in good agreement, indicating the range of values expected with anisotropic properties.
Keywords<
... Show MoreLinear regression is one of the most important statistical tools through which it is possible to know the relationship between the response variable and one variable (or more) of the independent variable(s), which is often used in various fields of science. Heteroscedastic is one of the linear regression problems, the effect of which leads to inaccurate conclusions. The problem of heteroscedastic may be accompanied by the presence of extreme outliers in the independent variables (High leverage points) (HLPs), the presence of (HLPs) in the data set result unrealistic estimates and misleading inferences. In this paper, we review some of the robust
... Show More
Abstract: This study was aimed to investigate the effect of two doses of pregabalin (PGB) on hormonal level and sexual activity in female albino rats. Ninety female rats with age (9-10 weeks) and weight (200±20 g) were divided into three major groups of thirty rats. First group was considered as control G1, the second G2 and third G3 groups were exposed to PGB into two doses 150, and 300 mg/kg body weight per day respectively. Each major group was divided into three subgroups (subgroup A, B, and C of each has ten rats), the treatments last for one month for subgroup A, two months for subgroup B, and three months for subgroup C. Five rats from each subgroup were placed separately into two breeding cages with two isolated males and wait
... Show More