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.
The current research aims to measure the impact of the skills of human resources management professionals in information technology in Iraqi private banks, as the skills of human resources management professionals constitute the modern trend of banks' interest in employees with outstanding performance, and the presence of information technology in banks is a prerequisite for dealing with the huge amount of data. And converting it into information to support the decision-maker in light of a complex environment, and the field research problem was the presence of a clear lack of interest in the skills of human resource management professionals and the weak adoption of information technology, which was reflected negatively on the compet
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AZ Khalaf, M kassim Haidir, LK Jasim, Iraqi Journal of Science, 2012
Monitoring and analysing of the vertical deformations or the settlements of the structures is one of the main research fields in geodetic applications, which is considered a precise periodic measurement, made at different epochs to investigate these deformations on heavy structures.
In this research, the deformation measurements were carried out on one of Baghdad University buildings,” Building of Computers Department” of dimensions (70.0 * 81.3 m.). Due to some cracks observed in their walls, it was necessary to monitor the vertical displacement of this building at some particular monitoring points by constructing a vertical network and measured in different epochs. The first epoch (zero epoch) was carried out in April 2006, the
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Background: Colorectal Cancer (CRC) is one of the most serious health problems and Herpes viridae may hasten the progression of colon cancer. Aim: The purpose of conducting this research is to investigate the existence of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1) infection in samples of Colorectal Cancer (CRC) compared with normal tissue. Material and Methods: 40 samples of tissues (30 patients ) with CRC, and (10 samples) of normal tissue (without cancer) were obtained, for immunohistochemically analysis of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1) expression Results: The results showed no significant data to justify the link between both Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1) and human colorectal cancer. Despite of presence of Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV1) found in
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The current research aims to: 1- Identify the emotional sensitivity of children from the parents' point of view. 2- Identifying the differences in the emotional sensitivity of children from the parents ’point of view, according to the parents’ gender variable (father - mother). The basic research sample consisted of (285) male and female students from the sixth grade (primary school), chosen in a randomized stratified method from the districts (Al-Karkh and AlRasafa). While the sample of statistical analysis amounted to (200) father and (200) mothers of male and female students who were randomly selected from the sixth grade of the education directorates (Al-Karkh and Al-Rasafa). The two researchers also used a number of sta
... Show MoreThis study attempts to determine the necessary teaching competencies for teachers and the level of their importance in the development of their performance professionally and scientifically, and the progress towards a better future to achieve an effective level. Accordingly, the research community consists of the morning-preparatory schools for boys at the General Directorate of Education of Baghdad \ Rusafa2. The study sample included (68) teachers constituted 88.31% of the total community of teachers. As for the research tools, the researcher adopted the descriptive method by using the observation method in which the researcher prepared a list of teaching. For verifying the re
... Show MoreBackground: Axillary lymph node (ALN) enlargement with diffuse cortical thickening and conserved echogenic hilum may represent a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge. Sonographic strain elastography may help the characterization of borderline ALN.
Aim: To evaluate the strain elastography of borderline ALN and to calculate a cutoff value of strain ratio (SR) that can identify suspicious ALN with the highest sensitivity and specificity to reduce unnecessary invasive procedures.
Subjects and Methods: A prospective study included 45 patients who attended the Breast clinic in Oncology Teaching Hospital with borderline axillary lymphadenopathy (intact hilum and diffusely thic
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Drug-induced acute kidney injury is a serious disorder. Oxidative stress has a key role in its initiation and progression. In this study, the possible ameliorative effect of fimasartan against methotrexate-induced nephrotoxicity was investigated in comparison with α-tocopherol in rats. Wistar rats were allocated into six groups and treated as follows: group Ӏ received water on a daily basis for 8 successive days; group ӀӀ received methotrexate (20 mg/kg) on day 1, followed by water for 7 successive days; group ӀӀӀ received fimasartan (3 mg/kg/day) for 7 successive days; group IV received α-tocopherol (1 g/kg/day) for 7 successive days; group V re
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Suggestion Plan for the Reclassification of U.N Publications in Central Library
the present study is designed to evaluate the effect of low level laser irradiation on the immume system when administere intravenoisly