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.
A simple, rapid, sensitive and inexpensive approach is described in this work based on a combination of solid‐phase extraction of 8‐hydroxyquinoline (8HQ), for speciation and preconcentration of Cr(III) and Cr(VI) in river water, and the direct determination of these species using a flow injection system with chemiluminescence detection (FI–CL) and a 4‐diethylamino phenyl hydrazine (DEAPH)–hydrogen peroxide system. At different pH, the two forms of chromium [Cr(III) and Cr(VI)] have different exchange capacities for 8HQ, therefore two columns were constructed; the pH of column 1 was adjusted to pH 3 for retaining Cr(III) and column 2 was adjusted to pH 1 for retaining of Cr(VI). The sorbe
الوصف Mixed ligand complexes of Cu (II), Co (II) and Zn (II) with 2-((4-(1-(4-chlorophenylimino) ethyl) phenylimino) methyl) phenol (L) and histidine (His) have been prepared and diagnosed by ¹H and13 C NMR, FT-IR and electronic spectral data, thermal gravimetric, molar conductance and metal analysis measurements. The ligand (L) shows a bidentate nature and the coordination occurs through N and O atoms of imine group and phenol group respectively whereas (His) behave as tridentate ligand, coordinating through the-NH2 group and carboxylate oxygen group and N atoms of imidazole ring. The analytical studies for three complexes have shown octahedral structure. The anticancer activity was screened against human cancer cell such Follicular
... Show MoreThe rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria necessitates the exploration of novel antimicrobial agents. Yttrium oxide nanoparticles (Y₂O₃) have shown potential due to their unique physicochemical properties and antibacterial activities against various pathogens. This study investigates the cytotoxic and antibacterial effects of Y₂O₃ nanoparticles against Serratia fonticuli and Citrobacter koseri, bacteria isolated from cholangitis patients. Bacterial strains were isolated from bile specimens and confirmed using standard microbiological techniques. The methods of X-ray diffraction (XRD), (SEM), and Frequency transform-infrared spectroscopic (FT-IR) were used to characterize YO₃ particles. Using a microdilution technique, the minimum
... Show MoreIn study carried out in the cold storage in college of Agric./Univ. of Baghdad at 8 ? C. shows that Alternaria , Pencillium , Rhizoctonia , Mucor , are the fungi that causes tomato fruits decay. This is the first record of Rhizoctonia and Mucor as a Tomato fruits rot under 8º c in Iraq. There is no fungal infection on cucumber fruits under 8 ? C. . Waxing tomato fruits reduced the severity of the fungi infection and gave shelflife (19 days) under 8 ? C. There is an infection with Mucor was found in tomato fruits kept in perforated polyethylene bages with 16 bores prevent the infection and the lowest severity and frequency of infection was found in waxed tomato fruits. Part of M.Sc thesis of the Second author.
Previously many properties of graphene oxide in the field of medicine, biological environment and in the field of energy have been studied. This diversity in properties is due to the possibility of modification on the composition of this Nano compound, where the Graphene oxide is capable of more modification via addition other functional groups on its surface or at the edges of the sheet. The reason for this modification possibility is that the Sp3 hybridization (tetrahedral structure) of the carbon atoms in graphene oxide, and it contains many oxygenic functional groups that are able to reac with other groups. In this research the effect of addition of some amine compounds on electrical properties of graphene oxide has been studied by the
... Show MoreBackground: Visfatin is a novel adipokine that mainly secreted by visceral adipose tissue, had an important role in inflammation and immune system. Creatine Kinase (CK) which is an enzyme that is involved in energy metabolism, found in large amounts in myocardium, brain and skeletal tissues. This study is carried out To evaluate the periodontal health status of the study groups (chronic periodontitis and chronic periodontitis with coronary atherosclerosis) and control groups, to measure the salivary levels of visfatin and Creatine Kinase in these groups and compare between them, and to determine the correlations between salivary visfatin and Creatine Kinase levels with the periodontal parameters in the three groups. Materials and Methods: e
... Show MoreCoupling reaction of m-and p- amino acetop henone and p-amino benzoic acid with (LHistidine) gave the new bidentate azo ligands (L1, L2 and L3). The prepared ligands were identified by FT-IR, UV-Vis, 1HNMR and GC- mass sp ectroscopic technique. Treatment of the prepared ligands with the following metal ions (CoII, NiII, CuII, ZnII, CdII and HgII) in aqueous ethanol with a 1:2 M:L ratio and at optimum pH, yielded a series of neutral complexes of the general formula [M (L)2 Cl2]. The prepared complexes were characterized by using flame atomic absorption, FT-IR, UV-Vis and 1HNMR spectroscopic methods as well as magnetic susceptibility and conductivity measurements. Chloride ion content was also evaluated by (Mohr method). The nature of the com
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