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.
Variation order plays an important role in calculating the final cost and time. The paper aims to determine the causes of variation orders in projects performed between 2007-2014 in Erbil governorate projects. Data was collected from contract documents. Performed in the Erbil governorate projects from 2007-2014. The study seeks to identify the most significant causes of delays by assessing the common causes of delays in terms of frequency, severity and
important indices of owners, consultants and contractors related to&n
... Show More
(1)
Animal fats are a good, promising and ethical alternative source for biodiesel production, but they need more complex treatments than vegetable oils. Iraqi butchery plants waste fats (sheep fat) which are suggested as feedstock to produce biodiesel. This type of fat contains a large quantity of free fatty acids (FFAs) (acid number 49.13 mg KOH/g of fat). The direct transesterification of such fats produce high amount of soap instead of desired biodiesel, so a pre-treatment step (to reduce FFAs) is necessary before transesterification. This step was done by esterification of the free fatty acids in the fat by adding ethanol and using 1% acid catalyst (H2SO4) for 30 minutes. The results showed that the acid number of sheep fat after pre-tr
... Show MoreAbstract
This study aims to identify the empathy of University Students, as well as the significant differences in sympathy in terms of gender and specialization. To achieve the aims of the study, a scale of empathy was administered to a sample of (450) students collected randomly from Baghdad university. The results showed that the study sample has a level of empathy. There is a significant difference between males and females in empathy, in favor of the female students. There is no significant difference in empathy in terms of specialization (scientific, humanities), and the interaction between males and females. The study came out with a number of recommendations and suggestions.
In this work, an investigation for the dynamic analysis of thin composite cylindrical and spherical shells is presented. The analytical solution is based upon the higher order shear deformation theory of elastic shells from which the developed equations are derived to deal with orthotropic layers. This will cover the determination of the fundamental natural frequencies and mode shapes for simply supported composites cylindrical and spherical shells.
The analytical results obtained by using the derived equations were confirmed by the finite element technique using the well known Ansys package. The results have shown a good agreement with a maximum percentage of discrepancy, which gives a confidence o
... Show MoreBackground: Morganella morganii is one of the important nosocomial pathogens that may cause urinary tract infection and bacteremia.Methods: The above bacterium was identified from 250 bacterial strains which were isolated from 220 urine samples of patients with urinary tract infection. Antimicrobial susceptibility, by using disk diffusion method, of isolates was tested against some antibiotics.Results: Two M. moganii strains were isolated from female catheterized urinary tract patients, and identified by conventional biochemical tests and API20E system at the first time in Iraq. Both of them produced urease and hemolysin. Antimicrobial susceptibility test showed that these strains are resistant to, amoxicillin-clavulanate, cephalothin, g
... Show MoreNew complexes of M(II) with mixed ligand of 5-Chlorosalicylic acid (CSA) C7H5ClO3 as primary ligand and L- Valine (L-Val) C5H11NO2 as a secondary ligand were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis (C.H.N), UV., FT-IR, magnetic susceptibility, μeff (B.M) as well as the conductivity measurements (Λm ). In the complexes, the 5-chlorosalicylic acid is bidentate in all complexes coordinating through –OH- and –COO- groups; also L-Valine behaves as a bidentate ligand in all complexes through –NH2 and –COO- groups. These five mixed ligand complexes formulated as Na3[M(CSA)2(L-Val)]. The proposed molecular structure for all complexes is octahedral geometries. The synthesis complexes were tested in vitro for against four bacteria
... Show MoreNew complexes of M(II) with mixed ligand of 5-Chlorosalicylic acid (CSA) C7H5ClO3 as primary ligand and L- Valine (L-Val) C5H11NO2 as a secondary ligand were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis (C.H.N), UV., FT-IR, magnetic susceptibility, µeff (B.M) as well as the conductivity measurements (Λm ). In the complexes, the 5-chlorosalicylic acid is bidentate in all complexes coordinating through –OH- and –COO- groups; also L-Valine behaves as a bidentate ligand in all complexes through –NH2 and –COO- groups. These five mixed ligand complexes formulated as Na3[M(CSA)2(L-Val)]. The proposed molecular structure for all complexes is octahedral geometries. The synthesis complexes were tested in vitro for against four bacteria
... Show MoreBackground: Joubert syndrome (JS) is a very rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by agenesis of cerebellar vermis, abnormal eye movements, respiratory irregularities, and delayed generalized motor development. Retinal dystrophy and cystic kidneys may also be associated with this clinical syndrome. The importance of recognizing JS is related to the outcome and its potential complications. This syndrome is difficult to diagnose clinically because of its variable phenotype. Its neuroimaging hallmarks include the characteristic molar tooth sign and bat wing-shaped fourth ventricle
New complexes of M(II) with mixed ligand of 5-Chlorosalicylic acid (CSA) C7H5ClO3 as primary ligand and L- Valine (L-Val) C5H11NO2 as a secondary ligand were prepared and characterized by elemental analysis (C.H.N), UV., FT-IR, magnetic susceptibility, μeff (B.M) as well as the conductivity measurements (Λm ). In the complexes, the 5-chlorosalicylic acid is bidentate in all complexes coordinating through –OH- and –COO- groups; also L-Valine behaves as a bidentate ligand in all complexes through –NH2 and –COO- groups. These five mixed ligand complexes formulated as Na3[M(CSA)2(L-Val)]. The proposed molecular structure for all complexes is octahedral geometries. The synthesis complexes were tested in vitro for against four bacteria
... Show MoreThis research includes the synthesis, characterization, and investigation of liquid crystalline properties of new rod-shaped liquid crystal compounds 1,4- phenylene bis(2-(5-(four-alkoxybenzylidene)-2,4-dioxothiazolidin-3- yl)acetate), prepared thiazolidine-2,4-dione (I) by the thiourea reaction with chloroacetic acid and water in the presence of the concentrated hydrochloric acid. The n-alkoxy benzaldehyde (II)n synthesized from the reacted 4- hydreoxybenzaldehyde and n-alkyl bromide with potassium hydroxide, and then the compound (I) was reacted with (II)n in the presence of piperidine to produce compounds (III)n. Also, hydroquinone was converted into a corresponding compound (IV) by refluxing with two moles of chloracetyl chloride in pyr
... Show More