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.
Current design codes and specifications allow for part of the bonded flexure tension reinforcement to be distributed over an effective flange width when the T-beams' flanges are in tension. This study presents an experimental and numerical investigation on the reinforced concrete flanged section's flexural behavior when reinforcement in the tension flange is laterally distributed. To achieve the goals of the study, numerical analysis using the finite element method was conducted on discretized flanged beam models validated via experimentally tested T-beam specimen. Parametric study was performed to investigate the effect of different parameters on the T-beams flexural behavior. The study revealed that a significant reduction in the
... Show MoreStudied the environment and fish life Qattan in the Euphrates River in central Iraq for the period from September 2002 until 2003 recorded the lowest temperature of the water during the month of January during the month of August ranged salinity ranges between 068
This study aimed to manufacture an innovative device that enables the player to walk after the operation and improves the functional efficiency through the improvement in the range of motion as well as the improvement in the size of the muscles working on the knee joint. The research, the study population consisted of players with severing the anterior cruciate ligament of the advanced soccer players, and the number of the research sample was (5) injured for the control sample and (5) for the experimental sample in Abu Ghraib Hospital and some rehabilitation centers for a period of six months, and the pre-tests were conducted after two weeks of The cruciate ligament surgery was performed, and the innovative device was used for the e
... Show MoreDeveloping smart city planning requires integrating various techniques, including geospatial techniques, building information models (BIM), information and communication technology (ICT), and artificial intelligence, for instance, three-dimensional (3D) building models, in enabling smart city applications. This study aims to comprehensively analyze the role and significance of geospatial techniques in smart city planning and implementation. The literature review encompasses (74) studies from diverse databases, examining relevant solutions and prototypes related to smart city planning. The focus highlights the requirements and preparation of geospatial techniques to support the transition to a smart city. The paper explores various aspects,
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This research aims at examining the expected gap between the fact of planning and controlling process of production at the State Company for Electric Industries and implementation of material requirements planning system in fuzzy environment. Developing solutions to bridge the gap is required to provide specific mechanisms subject to the logic of fuzzy rules that will keep pace with demand for increased accuracy and reduced waiting times depending on demand forecast, investment in inventory to reduce costs to a minimum.
The proposed solutions for overcoming the research problem has required some questions reflecting the problem with its multiple dimensions, which ar
... Show MoreBecause the Coronavirus epidemic spread in Iraq, the COVID-19 epidemic of people quarantined due to infection is our application in this work. The numerical simulation methods used in this research are more suitable than other analytical and numerical methods because they solve random systems. Since the Covid-19 epidemic system has random variables coefficients, these methods are used. Suitable numerical simulation methods have been applied to solve the COVID-19 epidemic model in Iraq. The analytical results of the Variation iteration method (VIM) are executed to compare the results. One numerical method which is the Finite difference method (FD) has been used to solve the Coronavirus model and for comparison purposes. The numerical simulat
... Show MoreAn analytical model in the form of a hyperbolic function has been suggested for the axial potential distribution of an electrostatic einzel lens. With the aid of this hyperbolic model the relative optical parameters have been computed and investigated in detail as a function of the electrodes voltage ratio for various trajectories of an accelerated charged-particles beam. The electrodes voltage ratio covered a wide range where the lens may be operated at accelerating and decelerating modes. The results have shown that the proposed hyperbolic field has the advantages of producing low aberrations under various magnification conditions and operational modes. The electrodes profile and their three-dimensional diagram have been determined whi
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