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.
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Abstract
The study aims to identify the extent to which the applied colleges at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences meet the comprehensive quality standards in light of the national education strategy for the 2040 Vision in the Sultanate of Oman. To do this, the researchers used the descriptive approach. They used a questionnaire as a tool for data collection that was applied to (237) administrators, academics, and support functions. The study found that the extent to which the applied colleges at the University of Technology and Applied Sciences meet the comprehensive quality standards in the light of the National Education Strategy 2040 in the Sultanate of Oman recorded a high range. The study als
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The aim of this work is to detect the best operating conditions that effect on the removal of Cu2+, Zn2+, and Ni2+ ions from aqueous solution using date pits in the batch adsorption experiments. The results have shown that the Al-zahdi Iraqi date pits demonstrated more efficient at certain values of operating conditions of adsorbent doses of 0.12 g/ml of aqueous solution, adsorption time 72 h, pH solution 5.5 ±0.2, shaking speed 300 rpm, and smallest adsorbent particle size needed for removal of metals. At the same time the particle size of date pits has a little effect on the adsorption at low initial concentration of heavy metals. The adsorption of metals increases with increas
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The distribution of the expanded exponentiated power function EEPF with four parameters, was presented by the exponentiated expanded method using the expanded distribution of the power function, This method is characterized by obtaining a new distribution belonging to the exponential family, as we obtained the survival rate and failure rate function for this distribution, Some mathematical properties were found, then we used the developed least squares method to estimate the parameters using the genetic algorithm, and a Monte Carlo simulation study was conducted to evaluate the performance of estimations of possibility using the Genetic algorithm GA.
The present investigation aims to determine the effects of aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) on biotransformation and antioxidant genes and the protective effects of curcumin, present in turmeric (Curcuma longa) powder (TMP). Specifically, the study included four groups of albino mice were fed for 30 days on diet Group I: Control, Group II: animals fed on the conventional basal diet supplemented with 0.5% food grade TMP that supplied 74 mg/kg total curcuminoids. Group III contained animals reared on conventional basal diet supplemented with 1.0 ppm AFB1 supplied by ground aflatoxin culture material (760 ppm AFB1). Finally, Group IV comprised of albino mice fed with basal diet supplemented with 1.0 ppm AFB1 and 0.5% TMP that supplied 74 mg/kg of the
... Show MoreRefrigerant R134a has been widely utilized in automotive air conditioning systems (AACSs); R134a has a high global warming potential (GWP) of 1430 despite having zero ozone depletion potential (ODP). Coming refrigeration systems must include refrigerants with low GWP and zero ODP. The aim of this experimental study is to evaluate the thermal performance of an (AAC) with different values of compressor speeds, i.e., (1000, 1700, and 2400 rpm) and two thermal loads, i.e., (500 and 1000 Watt) with the absence and presence of liquid suction heat exchanger (LSHX) using R134a. The results showed that adding LSHX enhanced the COP cycle by 7.18%, 10.7%, and 3.09% for the first, second, and third speed, respectively, at 500 Watt, while the en
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The researcher is one of the workers in university sports student activities, as he noticed that there is a diversity in the use of leadership patterns among managers of student activities in Iraqi universities between one director and another, which leads to the impact of these leadership styles on performance, positive or negative, in the level of human relations and the achievement of results. The researcher adopted the descriptive method in the survey method with relational relationships. The research sample consisted of (184) sports coaches who represent (27) universities and governmental and private colleges. To achieve the research objectives, the researcher used the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (Spss). To extract.statisti
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