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 study aimed to identify the effect of Total Quality Management on enhancing competitiveness through the opinions of employees of the front- rows of customer service in local Palestinian banks, the researcher adopted an analytical descriptive method through developing a special questionnaire to accomplish the study’s objectives and answer its questions. The study involved all the Palestinian local banks, with their scattered branches in West Bank. The study sample consisted of 3470 executive employees for banking services out of 4753 employees, in the rate of 73%, and the study sample reached (485) employees who were randomly selected working in the front -rows to provide services in the local Palestinian banks during the ye
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Abstract Iraq has an important place in the regional and international balance, and the competition among countries has increased in rapprochement with Iraq, not only for its geography or its privileged location, but because it has many other components that make regional and international countries want to strengthen their relations with it (Regional and international powers). In addition to that, Iraq has become increasingly important for these international and regional powers after its victory over the terrorist organization (ISIS), which proved an important fact that Iraq represents the most important pillars in the international balance.
Background: Mouthwashes used widely as ancillary to mechanical oral hygiene methods. Little information provided about the effect of mouthwashes on ions released from orthodontic brackets. Therefore, the present study has been established to evaluate the effect of different mouthwashes on the corrosion resistance and the biocompatibility of two brands of brackets. Materials and Methods: Eighty premolar stainless steel brackets were used (40 brackets from each brand). They were subdivided into four subgroups (n=10) according to immersion media (deionized distilled water, Corsodyl, Listerine and Silca herb mouthwashes). Each bracket was stored in a closely packed glass tube filled with 15ml of the immersion media and incubated for 45 days at
... Show MoreObjectives To tailor composites of polyethylene–hydroxyapatite to function as a new intracanal post for the restoration of endodontically treated teeth (ETT). Methods Silanated hydroxyapatite (HA) and zirconium dioxide (ZrO2) filled low-density polyethylene (LDPE) composites were fabricated by a melt extrusion process and characterised using infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA). The flexural strength and modulus were determined in dry state and post ageing in simulated body fluid and fractured surfaces analysed by SEM. The water uptake and radiographic appearance of the experimental composites were also measured and compared with a commercially known endodontic fibre
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This study aims to propose a novel research model to test the nexus between green human resource management processes, strategic excellence and the sustainability of educational institutions in Iraqi academic settings.
This examination in Iraqi higher education is finalised across three key stages: determining the knowledge gaps, reviewing the literature and building the hypothesised conceptual model. A case study complemented by a quantitative methodology using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) and Analysis of Moment
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Water injection equipments such as pipelines, which are used in the second recovery of oil in the Al-Ahdeb wells, suffer from the corrosion in water during maintaining vacuum deoxygenated tower that used to decrease concentration of the dissolved oxygen gas in the water from 6.2-9.1 ppm to o.5 ppm. This study involved calculation the corrosion rates of the internal surfaces of the
pipelines either during operation of the vacuum unit or when the tower out of operation. Finally, find the solution by one of the following suggestions. In the first suggestion removal of the dissolved O2 from water is achieved by increasing the dosage of the oxygen scavenger (sodium sulphite). The second suggestion involves removing the dissolved O2 from w
Water injection equipments such as pipelines, which are used in the second recovery of oil in the Al-Ahdeb wells, suffer from the corrosion in water during maintaining vacuum deoxygenated tower that used to decrease concentration of the dissolved oxygen gas in the water from 6.2-9.1 ppm to o.5 ppm. This study involved calculation the corrosion rates of the internal surfaces of the pipelines either during operation of the vacuum unit or when the tower out of operation. Finally, find the solution by one of the following suggestions. In the first suggestion removal of the dissolved O2 from water is achieved by increasing the dosage of the oxygen scavenger (sodium sulphite). The second suggestion involves re
... Show Moreهدفت الدراسة الى الاهتمام واستغلال ماهو جديد من تقنيات واجهزة حديثة في تعليم السباحة الحرة عن طريق توجيه الاطفال على تطوير مداركهم واستيعابهم بالتطور التكنولوجي الذي يتناوله العالم ،قامت الباحثتان باعداد منهج تعليمي باستخدام نظارة الواقع الافتراضي وذالك بتوفير بيئة مشابهة للبيئة الحقيقية تحاكي مدارك عقول الاطفال في عالم افتراضي لتتكون صورة كاملة عن مهارات السباحة الحرة ،ومن هنا اتت المشكلة نتيجة تعل
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