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.
Modern trends have appeared recently in educational thought that call for the achievement of the outcomes of the educational process. Some of these trends are the development of individual thinking skills, considering the individual differences, and learning basic skills. The five-year learning cycle is one of these models. It is called as five-year learning cycle because it passes through five stages. These five stages are: (operate - discover - clarify - expand – Evaluate), which make the learner as the main axis for activating thinking processes. This can be done by organizing study materials through research, investigation, and identifying concepts by himself, as in learning sports skills that depend on motor performance and teamwork,
... Show MoreMangrove landscaping in the Segara Anakan Lagoon (SAL) is an adaptation pattern of mangrove ecosystems to live and grow in unstable areas. This research aimed to develop a mangrove landscape to mitigate the impacts of ocean waves, currents, and inundation due to climate change. The study was conducted in SAL and Cilacap Coast (CC) using the environmental properties and climate change data. The data obtained were analyzed using mapping and trendline analyses. The results showed that mangrove landscaping in Segara Anakan had four zones with Nypa frutican, Rhizophora styllosa, Aegiceras corniculatum, Rhizophora apiculata, Avicennia marina, Sonneratia alba identified as the best adaptation of mangrove species. Climate change give a high impa
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The objective of the research is to identify the efficiency of risk management in various names at Baghdad International Airport in the face of various risks (financial - technical - human - natural ..) facing the sample of the search of the General Establishment of Civil Aviation and the Iraqi Airways Company where the researcher identified the hypothesis that summarizes There is a significant significant correlation between risk management, risk management and risk review and assessment. The researcher used the means of research from observation and interviews with the relevant officials in this field, as well as used the questionnaire and distributed a sample of 170 employees in the field of risk management (SMS Department) in Iraqi A
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The research aims to identify the effect of teaching-learning design based on the constructivism theory on the life skills of middle stage students. The sample consisted of (60) students from one of the middle schools in Baghdad's governorate. The experimental group and control group consisted of 30 students for each group, the research tool was the life skills scale composed of (78) items. The scale proved its validity and reliability, which was found to be (0.85). The results showed a statistically significant difference in life skills between the two groups of research in favor of the experimental group, which studied the educational design according to models of constructivism theory compared to the usual method of teaching.
The presence of the most important steroidal sapogenin “Tigogenin†in the leaves of Agave americana cultivated in Iraq was detected. The absence of any study concerning the Tigogenin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, and the industrial importance of Tigogenin depending on its role as a precursor in the synthesis of some steroidal drugs, acquired this study its value. This search include extraction, isolation, purification and dentification of Tigogenin from the leaves of Agave americana. Extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound is carried out by using thin layer chromatography (TLC) where three different mobile phase have been use
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This study detects the presence of the most important steroidal sapogenin “Tigogenin†in the leaves of Yucca aloifolia widely cultivated in Iraq. The absence of any study concerning the Tigogenin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, and the industrial importance of Tigogenin depending on its role as a precursor in the synthesis of some steroidal drugs, acquired this study its value. This study concerned with extraction, identification, isolation, and purification of Tigogenin from the leaves of Yucca aloifolia. Extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound was done using thin layer chromatography (TLC) where different solvent systems had been tried. Liberm
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This study detects the presence of an important flavonoid "Casticin" in the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. grown in Iraq. The pharmaceutical importance of Casticin arise from its consideration as anti-tumor substance and have cytotoxic effects, and the absence of any study concerning Casticin content of this medicinal plant in Iraq, gave this study its importance. This study concerned with the extraction, identification, isolation and purification of Casticin from the fruits of Vitex agnus-castus L. The extraction of this compound was carried out using two methods. Identification of this compound was done by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC) in which three different solvent system has been tried. This identif
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The current research aims to identify the level of extension of the sense of self and the cognitive style (complexity - simplification) among university students, as well as the significance of the difference according to gender (males - females), as well as the correlation between the two variables, and in order to verify this, the researcher has constructed The measure of the extension of the sense of self based on the theory of Alport 1961, as the number of its final paragraphs reached (28) paragraphs, and the cognitive style scale (complexity - simplification) prepared by (Abdullah 2017) was adopted, as the scale consisted of (32) paragraphs in its final form. To verify their psychometric properties, and the two tools were applied to
... Show MoreThis study sheds light on female entrepreneurship in Palestine, and explores the reasons behind its relative weakness as compared with men, and with female entrepreneurship in other countries. This study aims at proposing effective policies and doable measures to enhance female entrepreneurship. Achieving this objective will carry significant impact on employment and economic growth at large, and increase women’s economic participation, scaling up their independence, and demonstrating their skills and abilities, and putting women on an equal footing with men. Furthermore, entrepreneurial activity has increasingly become one of the key drivers of economic development. An increased rate of entrepreneurial activities among women,
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