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.
Conventional flexible pavements are released to different types of failure in the initial phases of their service life due to high traffic density, high speeds, heavy loads, and harsh climates. To eliminate pavement damage and failure early, the present search investigates the impact of adding glass, steel, and basalt fibers in the asphalt mixtures. Also, the study evaluates these materials characteristics compared to the mixtures without fibers. The Marshall test and tensile strength ratio test (TSR) were utilized to evaluate the asphalt mixture's performance. A set of specimens were produced by incorporating glass fiber (GF), steel fiber (SF), and basalt fiber (BF) at (0.10%, 0.15%, 0.20%), (0.25%, 0.35%, 0.45%), and (0.15%, 0.35%
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The mass collision energy loss (dE/dX), the mass radiative energy loss (Srad/) and the total mass stopping power of electrons in the energy range of 0.01 MeV up to 1000 MeV has been calculated for Lung, Urea and Skin. The results of the present work for the mass collision stopping power of electrons in Lung, Urea and Skin are in excellent agreement with the standard results given by ESTAR program, where the maximum percentage error between the present calculated values and that of ESTAR program in Lung tissue, Urea and Skin tissue is 0.27%, 0.3% and 0.8% respectively. The mass radiative energy loss of electrons in the same energy range is also calculated using a modified equation, and the results are found to be in very good agreem
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This study included 46 patients with liver hydatid cyst diagnosed clinically and surgically, control group consist of 22 were naïve from infection had been confirmed by specialist. The patients were divided according to the size of the cysts into more and less than 5 cm diameter size, were 33 and 13 respectively. Also it divided into primary and secondary hydatid cyst infection which were 30 and 16 respectively. The role of immunological response against hydatid cyst parasite, showed a significant increased in humoral immunoglobulins (IgG, IgA, IgM and IgE) which were significantly higher in the hydatid cyst infection than control. Also significant increased in immunoglobulins in secondary infection than primary infection, beside significa
... Show MoreThis paper describes the use of remote sensing techniques in verification of the polluted area in Diyala River and Tigris River and the effected of AL-Rustamiyah wastewater treatment plant, which is located on Diyala River, one of the branches of Tigris River in south of Baghdad. SPOT-5 a French satellite image of Baghdad, Iraq was used with ground resolution of 2.5 m in May 2016. ENVI 5.1 software programming was utilized for Image processing to assess the water pollution of Diyala and Tigris River’s water. Five regions were selected from a study area and then classified using the unsupervised ISODATA method. The results indicated that four classes of water quality which are successful in assessing and mapping water pollution which confi
... Show MoreNew vision of Mr. Abdul Mahdi Al-Muttafiqi in the light of unpublished documents
Background: Lumbar disc degeneration (LDD) is a common musculoskeletal disorder that frequently causes low back pain (LBP). In addition to the discomfort of lower back pain, it can accompany pain in one or both legs. The lumbar spine and sacrum, consisting of five vertebrae and one bone, determine the spine's balance. Microelements are essential in bone metabolism and are associated with the prevention of osteoporosis and the alleviation of musculoskeletal pain. Objectives: To examine the correlation between lumbar spinal surgery and the concentrations of microelements, namely zinc and copper. Methods: A case-control study was conducted in Ghazi Al-Hariri Hospital in Baghdad, Iraq, during the period from October 2023 to January 2024
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Mersing is one of the places that have the potential for wind power development in Malaysia. Researchers often suggest it as an ideal place for generating electricity from wind power. However, before a location is chosen, several factors need to be considered. By analyzing the location ahead of time, resource waste can be avoided and maximum profitability to various parties can be realized. For this study, the focus is to identify the distribution of the wind speed of Mersing and to determine the optimal average of wind speed. This study is critical because the wind speed data for any region has its distribution. It changes daily and by season. Moreover, no determination has been made regarding selecting the average wind speed used for w
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The atmospheric air cold plasma has been used to manufacture gold nanomaterials for treating parasitic leishmaniasis. This study experimentally assessed the treatment of Leishmania parasites (L. donovani and L. tropica) by gold nanoparticles. Specifically, atmospheric pressure nonthermal plasma was generated using different diameters (1.0, 2.8, 3.8 and 4.3 mm) of high voltage electrode. Aqueous gold tetrachloride salts (HAuCl4·4H2O) were used as precursor to produce gold nanoparticles. UV-vis spectroscopy and x-ray diffraction were conducted for characterization of the nanoparticles. The optimum condition (a diameter of 1 mm) was chosen to prepare gold nanoparticles, where the grain size was found to be 17 nm. Accordingly, the nanoparticle
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Visceral leishmaniasis (VL) or kala-azar is one of the worlds most neglected tropical diseases in mortality and fourth in morbidity, rK39 dipstick was used to diagnose the suspected infected patients as cheapest simple technique which can differentiate recent from chronic infection, for disease out-coming, naïve T-lymphocyte cells should be differentiated into pathogen-specific immunity responses, such as T-helper 1(Th-1) or (Th-2). HLA-G is a special protein defined as nonclassical HLA class I molecule can suppress the immune system through prevention of T-cell function by foul all T-cell mechanisms. So, this study aimed to detect and evaluate the level of sHLA-G in the sera of patients infected with VL. The results showed that there was
... Show MoreBackground: urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias surgery repair is the most common complication and remains a frustrating problem for surgeon and the patient. The problem is exacerbated because the urethrocutaneous fistula may recur which adds more demands surgery. Objectives: The purpose of this study is to evaluate of the use of oral mucosal graft for management of recurrent urethrocutaneous fistula after hypospadias repair. Patients and Methods: twelfth patients with age ranging from 4 year to 15 years were presented with history of recurrent fistula. Most of fistula were located in proximal penile and penoscrotal region (58.3%) . those patients were repaired by using oral mucosal graft with mean postoperative follow up period up t
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