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.
In this paper, we investigate two stress-strength models (Bounded and Series) in systems reliability based on Generalized Inverse Rayleigh distribution. To obtain some estimates of shrinkage estimators, Bayesian methods under informative and non-informative assumptions are used. For comparison of the presented methods, Monte Carlo simulations based on the Mean squared Error criteria are applied.
In this paper, a comparison between horizontal and vertical OFET of Poly (3-Hexylthiophene) (P3HT) as an active semiconductor layer (p-type) was studied by using two different gate insulators (ZrO2 and PVA). The electrical performance output (Id-Vd) and transfer (Id-Vg) characteristics were investigated using the gradual-channel approximation model. The device shows a typical output curve of a field-effect transistor (FET). The analysis of electrical characterization was performed in order to investigate the source-drain voltage (Vd) dependent current and the effects of gate dielectric on the electrical performance of the OFET. This work also considered the effects of the capacitance semiconductor on the performance OFETs. The value
... Show MoreDue to technological developments in the Iraqi banking sector, which is the use of electronic payment systems within the banking infrastructure. This has led to speed and accuracy in the completion of transactions, reduced costs, increased revenues and efficiency. This research examines the challenges and risks facing the Iraqi banking sector as a result of its use of electronic payment systems. And show its impact on the profitability of commercial banks. The research was based on the main hypothesis that there is a statistically significant moral impact relationship between electronic payment systems and the profitability of banks. Iraqi commercial banks were chosen as a research community, All Iraqi commercial banks that parti
... Show MoreAggregate production planning (APP) is one of the most significant and complicated problems in production planning and aim to set overall production levels for each product category to meet fluctuating or uncertain demand in future. and to set decision concerning hiring, firing, overtime, subcontract, carrying inventory level. In this paper, we present a simulated annealing (SA) for multi-objective linear programming to solve APP. SA is considered to be a good tool for imprecise optimization problems. The proposed model minimizes total production and workforce costs. In this study, the proposed SA is compared with particle swarm optimization (PSO). The results show that the proposed SA is effective in reducing total production costs and req
... Show MoreThe research aims to analysis of the current financial crisis in Iraq through knowing its causes and then propose some solutions that help in remedy the crisis and that on the level of expenditures and revenues, and has been relying on the Federal general budget law of the Republic of Iraq for the fiscal year 2016 to obtain the necessary data in respect of the current expenditures and revenues which necessary to achieve the objective of the research , and through the research results has been reached to a set of conclusions which the most important of them that causes of the current financial crisis in Iraq , mainly belonging to increased expenditures and especially the current ones and the lack of revenues , especially non-oil o
... Show MoreSummarized the idea of research is marked by "changes in the process of mass communication by using the international network of information" by specifying what data networking and mass communication is the transformation processes in the mass communication network where research aims to:1. Diagnostic data and transformations in the process of mass communication network.2. Provide a contact form commensurate with the characteristic mass of the International Network of electronic information, and research found to provide a communicative model called the (human contact network). In short (HCN) Humanity Communication Net also reached conclusions concerning the search process and communicative transformations and changes that have taken pla
... Show Moreole in all sta
Oil well logging, also known as wireline logging, is a method of collecting data from the well environment to determine subterranean physical properties and reservoir parameters. Measurements are collected against depth along the well's length, and many types of wire cabling tools depend on the physical property of interest. Well probes generally has a dynamic respon to changes in rock layers and fluid composition. These probes or well logs are legal documents that record the history of a well during the drilling stages until its completion. Well probes record the physical properties of the well, which must then be interpreted in petrographic terms to obtain the characteristics of the rocks and flui
... Show Moreole in all sta Oil well logging, also known as wireline logging, is a method of collecting data from the well environment to determine subterranean physical properties and reservoir parameters. Measurements are collected against depth along the well's length, and many types of wire cabling tools depend on the physical property of interest. Well probes generally has a dynamic respon to changes in rock layers and fluid composition. These probes or well logs are legal documents that record the history of a well during the drilling stages until its completion. Well probes record the physical properties of the well, which must then be interpreted in petrographic terms to obtain the characteristics of the rocks and fluids associated with
... Show More