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: The main drawback of soft lining materials was that they debonded from the denture base after a certain period of usage. Therefore, the purpose of this research was to determine the impact of oxygen and argon plasma treatment on the shear bonding strength of soft liners to two different kinds of denture base materials: conventional acrylic resin and high impact acrylic resin. Materials and Methods: Heat cure conventional and high impact acrylic blocks (40 for each group) were prepared. A soft liner connected the final test specimen of two blocks of each acrylic material. Shear bond strength (SBS) was assessed using universal testing machine. Additional blocks were also prepared for analyzing Vickers microhardness, contact ang
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Two field experiments were conducted during the spring seasons of 2000,2001.The aim was to study the effect of hardening to drought tolerance on moisture percentage in root and stem of sunflower plant during growth stages . Asplit-split plots design was used with three replications.The main plots included irrigation treatments:irrigation to100%(full irrigation),75and50%of available soil water.The sub plots were the cultivars Euroflor and Flame.The sub-sub plots represented four seed soaking treatments :Control(unsoaked),soaking in water ,Paclobutrazol solution(250ppm),and Pix solution(500ppm). The soaking continued for 24 hours then seeds were dried at room temperature until they regained their original weight. Amount of water
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A field experiment was conducted in the growth season 2019-2020 at the botanical garden of the Biology Department at the College of Education for Pure Sciences/Ibn Al-Haitham, University of Baghdad-Iraq. The experiments’ purpose is to determine the effects of different melatonin concentrations on some morphological and physiological characteristics of mung (Vigna radiata L.) plant under the influence of three periods of drought (5, 10, 15 days). The results were showed that the increasing of water stress periods had significant effects in the reducing rates of the studied characteristics, especially at the period 15 days. The external treatment of different concentrations of melatonin reduced the drought effects and that’s led to signif
... Show MoreObjective(s): The world of dentistry is constantly evolving, and with the advent of 3D printing technology, the possibilities are endless. However, little is known about the effects of adding ZrO2 NPs to the denture base resin of 3D additive manufacturing technique.Aim of this study is to evaluate the behavior of resin which is used to 3D printing of denture base with the addition of ZrO2 NPs on denture adaptation property and diametral compression strength.Methods: 60 samples were printed, 30 disks for diametral compressive test and 30 denture base for denture adaptation test. Three groups per test (n=10). The control group for each test included unreinforced 3Dprinted denture base resin, and the other groups were reinforced with (2&
... Show MorePVC/Kaolinite composites were prepared by the melt intercalation method. Mechanical properties, thermal properties, flammability and water absorption percentage of prepared samples were tested. Mechanical characteristic such as tensile strength, elongation at break; hardness and impact strength (charpy type) were measured for all samples. It was found that the tensile strength and elongation at break of PVC composites decreased with increasing kaolinite loading. Also, the hardness of the composites increases with increase in filler content .The impact strength of the composites at the beginning increases at lower kaolinite loadings is due to the lack of kaolin adhesion to the matrix. However, at higher kaolin loadings. This severe agglom
... Show MoreThe V2O5 films were deposited on glass substrates which produce using "radio frequency (RF)"power supply and Argon gas technique. The optical properties were investigated by, UV spectroscopy at "radio frequency" (RF) power ranging from 75 - 150 Watt and gas pressure, (0.03, 0.05 and 0.007 Torr), and substrate temperature (359, 373,473 and 573) K. The UV-Visible analysis shows that the average transmittance of all films in the range 40-65 %. When the thickness has been increased the transhumance was decreased from (65-40) %. The values of energy band gap were lowered from (3.02-2.9 eV) with the increase of thickness the films in relation to an increase in power, The energy gap decreased (2.8 - 2.7) eV with an increase in the pressure and
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Abstract: Objectives: To investigate the effect of temperature elevation on the bonding strength of resin cement to the zirconia ceramic using fractional CO2 laser. Background: Fractional CO2 laser is an effective surface treatment of zirconia ceramic, as it increases the bonding strength of zirconia to resin cement. Methods: Thirty sintered zirconia discs (10 mm diameter, 2 mm thickness) were prepared and divided to three groups (N=10) and five diffident pulse durations were used in each group (0.1, 0.5, 1, 5 and 10 ms). Group A was treated with 10 W power setting, group B with 20 W and group C with 30 W. During laser irradiation, temperature elevation measurement was recorded for each specimen. Luting cement was bonded to the treated z
... Show MoreIn this work, we study the effect of doping Sn on the structural and optical properties of pure cadmium oxide films at different concentrations of Tin (Sn) (X=0.1,0.3 and 0.5) .The films prepared by using the laser-induced plasma at wavelength of laser 1064 nm and duration 9 ns under pressure reached to 2.5×10-2 mbar. The results of X-ray diffraction tests showed that the all prepared films are polycrystalline. As for the topography of the films surface, it was measured using AFM , where the results showed that the grain size increases with an increase in the percentage of doping in addition to an increase in the average roughness. The optical properties of all films have also been studied through the absorbance s
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Current research included preparation, characterization of some new chitosan- hydroxy benzaldehyde-Schiff bases with maleic anhydride. The present study aimed to the synthesis and characterization of novel chitosan Schiff base compounds using para- hydroxy benzaldeh and maleic anhydride. The derivative of the schiff-chitosan base, which is associated with different drugs, has been replaced with different amino and hydroxy drugs. The derivative is characterized by different analytical techniques. The results of FT-IR studies clearly indicate construction of the chief amine group in chitosan and the emergence of new bands that correspond to the association of maleic anhydride with the chitosan base. TGA, 1
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