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.
In this paper, some estimators of the unknown shape parameter and reliability function of Basic Gompertz distribution (BGD) have been obtained, such as MLE, UMVUE, and MINMSE, in addition to estimating Bayesian estimators under Scale invariant squared error loss function assuming informative prior represented by Gamma distribution and non-informative prior by using Jefferys prior. Using Monte Carlo simulation method, these estimators of the shape parameter and R(t), have been compared based on mean squared errors and integrated mean squared, respectively
Pseudomonas aeruginosa is a Gram-negative opportunistic pathogen and a model bacterium for studying virulence and bacterial social traits. While it can be isolated in low numbers from a wide variety of environments including soil and water, it can readily be found in almost any human/animal-impacted environment. It is a major cause of illness and death in humans with immunosuppressive and chronic conditions, and infections in these patients are difficult to treat due to a number of antibiotic resistance mechanisms and the organism’s propensity to form multicellular biofilms. One hundred twenty clinical samples and forty hospital environmental samples (various sources) were collected from hospitals in Baghdad city during the period from Oc
... Show MoreThe present search aims to develop a test for selective attention, cognitive load and thinking mistakes and measuring these concepts among Baghdad university students. To make a comparison between the selective attention, cognitive load, and the mistakes of thinking among students in term of gender. To identify the relationship among the selective attention, cognitive load and the mistakes of thinking of university students. To achieve these purposes, the searcher has developed a test for selective attention, cognitive load, and the mistakes of thinking. Then, these tools were applied to a sample of (200) university students were selected from (21) college. The researcher used t-test of one sample, t-test of two independent
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The factor that keeps society from collapsing and regressing to chaos, violence, and lawbreaking is to stick to the human moral principles and criteria of moral behavior that prevent the spread of corruption and crime to the extent that law becomes devoid of activity and loss its dot errant power in front of chaos. The role of moral behavior is to motivate individuals to respect the general laws in dealing with others. Because of the dissemination of odd behavior patterns within our society, the social links are been badly affected and it's urgent for educational institutions to perform their duty in working on spreading awareness about moral values and avoid deviant directions and socially threatening t
... Show MoreiNKT cells, sometimes known as the immune system's "Swiss Army knife," have become key components of cancer vaccination treatments. Glycolipids that activate iNKT cells, including α-galactosylceramide (αGalCer), have been used to create self-adjuvanting anti-tumor vaccinations and can boost the immune response to co-delivered cancer antigens. The chemicals synthesis of ganglioside antigens, specifically (Neu5Gc) GM3 and GM3 antigen, and conjugations to αGalCer, and packaging into liposome as effective platforms for their in vivo deliverying are the main topics of this work. In mouse and human cell experiments, liposome containing, (Neu5Gc) GM3-αGalCer, GM3-αGalCer, and equimolar quantities of conjugates have thoroughly describe
... Show MoreThe synthesis of new benzodiazepine, imidazole, isatin, maleimide, pyrimidine and 1,2,4-triazole derived from 2-amino-4-hydroxy-1,3,5-triazine, via its cyclocondensation reaction with different organic reagents, is described. FT-IR, 1H-NMR and as well as 13C-NMR spectra disclosed the structures of the precursors and heterocyclic derivatives formed.
The antioxidant and antibacterial activities of ethanolic extract and phenolic compounds extract of Lemon balm (Melissa officinalis) and Oregano (Oreganum vulgare) plants were studied; the phenolic content and the relationship between these compounds and the above activities were also investigated. The results showed that the Lemon balm had the highest phenolic content (56.5% mg g) and the phenolic content of Oregano was twice lower than Lemon balm. Lemon balm has the highest antioxidant activity which causes lipid peroxidation inhibition activity of linoleic acid (90.5%), this activity was more than ?-tocopherole antioxidant activity (79.3 %). It was found that the main source of antioxidant activity o
... Show MoreMastitis is an udder tissue inflammation which has infected various species of animals. It happens through several types of pathogenic bacteria, particularly Streptococcus agalactiae. GBS is a leading cause of cow mastitis. In our sample, 9.52% of Streptococcus agalactiae were isolated which were collected from bovine mastic milk and identified by biochemical tests such as catalase, oxidase, Production of indole, fermentation of sugar, an examination of antibiotic sensitivity, CAMP test and group kits of Lancefield. The results showed that all Streptococcus agalactiae isolate was diagnosed by CAMP test by the appearance of the arrowhead in blood agar and by the appearance of visible agglutination on a card in the serological grouping kit of
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