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.
Abstract
The research aims to verify the dimensions of tax justice that exist in Iraq, and to determine their impact on tax compliance. Through a revised model of tax justice based on the literature of tax justice according to the classification of the studies of (Saad, 2009), (Wenzel, 2002), by using a questionnaire as an experimental measurement tool designed to be in line with perceptions of tax justice in Iraq. To define the dimensions of tax justice (the independent variable) with eight dimensions (Distributive justice, Exchange justice, Vertical justice, Horizontal justice, Retributive justice,
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The research aims at achieving a set of objectives, which is to study a vital variable in the organizations which is the talent management and its impact on encouraging and empowering employees to take part in making appropriate decisions with their heads in the Iraqi Cement State Company. The problem of this research is in finding solutions to the weaknesses that face the managers in attracting talented employees and keep them in the company, and this leads to a weak capacity of the company on authorizing talented employees and giving them the needed confidence to participate in decision making process. The research sample was included (45) managers in the researched company. Th
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Aim: The purpose of this study was to analyze the patterns of facial fractures in children and to compare them between preschool- and school-aged children. Materials and methods: This retrospective observational study included 57 children with facial fractures. The variables analyzed were the age of the patients—divided into a preschool-aged group (0–5 years) and a school-aged group (6–12 years)—gender, cause of trauma, the facial bones involved, the pattern of fracture, the modality of treatment used, the time between injury and treatment, and the postoperative complications. Results: The incidence of facial fractures in children ≤12 years was 30.2%. The patients consisted of 40 (70.2%) males and 17 (29.8%) females, and most pati
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We presented here a 25years old lady with a multiple hatdtid cysts in lung and liver and spleen in large number in each organ. Which regarded inoperable and difficult to treared.We use medical treatment with antihelimenthes drugs in new regime and follow-up over 1year clinically, laboratory investigations, U/s and CT.scan. There was good disappearance of liver and spleen cysts with very good response in lungs.
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The ethyl acetate synthesis via heterogeneous reactive distillation is studied experimentally using ethanol and acetic acid. Three types of cation exchanging resins were used as catalysts: Zerolit 225, Zerolit 226 and Ambylite 400. Experiments were carried out in two units of the same dimensions. Each unit consisted of three sections: rectifying, reactive and stripping sections of heights (60+25+20) cm respectively and 2.5cm column diameter. The first unit (column-A-) was a fractionation type and the second unit (column-B-) was packed column. The packing type was hollow glass cylinders with 10 mm height, and 4, 5 mm inner and outer diameter respectively.
The experiment
... Show MoreDiscourse markers are expressions used to connect sentences to what comes before or after and indicate a speaker's attitude to what he is saying.As linguistic items, they have important functions in discourses of various styles or registers. And being connective elements, discourse markers relate sentences, clauses and paragraphs to each other. "One of the most prominent function of discourse markers, however, is to signal the kinds of relations a speaker perceives between different parts of the discourse". (Lenk 1997: 2) Through political discourse, different types of discourse markers are used. This paper deals with the importance and functions of discourse markers and tries to shed light on the kinds of discourse markers used in polit
... Show More The research aims to (identify the applications of pedagogy in art education), the research community included, art education for the primary stage, so the community consisted of (8) main areas in art education, either the research sample was chosen, two main areas (objectives, and content), and included the research methodology (descriptive and analytical), the researcher built the research tool represented (the validity form of the tool) and presented to a group of experts to indicate its validity as well as to measure its stability, To show the results, the researcher used the percentage, and the researcher recommended - modifying the curriculum every period of time, such as every four years, others