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 education, especially higher education, is an essentially factor in the progress of any society, if we consider the higher education, represents the top of the education`s pyramid which take part in developing the human resources and provide the human staff to raise the productive efficiency, and improve the social , economic level
In order to face the increasing importance of higher education, great capabilities and expenditures must be available in a continous way, such expe
... Show MoreAfter its 35-year occupation of Japan and the US occupation, Korea has set its sights on a long-term goal of building its country and establishing its foundations, unobtrusive and unchecked by the problems and wars that have stood in the way of its goal, surpassing all odds and achieving the best results. The most powerful Asian and global economies, which gained the respect of the world and its appreciation of the experience has become referred to as boys
Translation as a human endeavor has occupied the attention of nations since it bridges the gab between cultures and helps in bringing out national integration. The translation of Kurdish literature started with personal efforts in which newspapers and magazines had played a vital role in supporting translation and paved the way for promoting the publication of Kurdish products.
The bulk of the materials translated from Arabic exceeds that translated from other languages owing to the influence of religious and authoritarian factors.
The survey of the Kurdish journals was limited to the period 1898-1991 since it marked a radical and historic change represented by the birth of Kurdish journalis
... Show MoreDepartments and offices of public relations and media in any institution or company is the most important departments that reflect the results of their work negatively or positively on their reputation. This goes beyond the trust and credibility that its internal and external audiences will give it. Where such matter requires the staff, working in these departments and offices, to have communication skills that qualify them to do the role of marketing the communication message. Yet, the communication skills of public relations and media staff vary from person to person depending on the communication position. This skill has two criteria: Achieving the communication goal and the speed in achieving it as a number of skills
... Show MoreBackground: Study looking into cardiovascular disorders (CVD) medicines or analgesics cost-saving activities during dispensing process is lacking.
Aim: To determine differences in factors and costs associated with refused CVD medicines or analgesics during dispensing process
Method: This study was approved by Medical Research and Ethics Committee (MREC) (Registration number: NMRR-20-177-53153(IIR)). Participants receiving CVD medicines or analgesics during dispensing process were recruited via convenience sampling technique between February and March 2020 at the Specialist Pharmacy Department of Jerantut Hospital, Malaysia. Refusal to medications and its reasons were asked based on the questionnaire developed by the resea
... Show MoreThe friendly-environment geophysical methods are commonly used in various engineering and near-surface environmental investigations. Electrical Resistivity Imaging technique was used to investigate the subsurface rocks, sediments properties of a proposed industrial site to characterize the lateral and vertical lithological changes. via the electrical resistivity, to give an overview about the karst, weak and robust subsoil zones. Nineteen 2D ERI profiles using Wenner array with 2 m electrode spacing have been applied to investigate the specific industry area. One of these profiles has been conducted with one-meter electrode spacing. The surveyed profiles are divided into a number of blocks, each block consists of several parallel pr
... Show MoreA study that collected 240 samples and divided into two groups: the first 120 samples were for diabetics and the second 120 samples were for healthy people, and each group included (90, 20.10) samples from the mouth, urine and vagina respectively, The results showed positive (28.67, 4.00, 1.67) isolates of Candida. In the mouth, urine and vagina, respectively, of diabetic patients compared to (9.33, 2.33, 5.00) positive isolates in the mouth, urine and vagina, respectively, in the healthy. The rate of positive isolates in women was high in women with diabetes and healthy, and it reached 25.33 and 9.00 isolates, respectively, compared with the rate of isolates in men with Candida disease for diabetic patients and healthy people 14.67 and 2.0
... Show MoreMedication safety and effectiveness can be improved through interprofessional collaboration. The goals of this study were to measure the degree of physician–pharmacist collaboration within Iraqi governmental healthcare settings and to investigate factors influencing this collaboration.
This cross-sectional study was conducted in Al-Najaf Province using the Collaborative Working Relationship Model and Physician–Pharmacist Collaborative Instrument (PPCI). Four phar
The steady consumption of fish led many researchers to study it preferences over other foods, especially for radioactivity content. The specific activity concentration (S.A) of natural occurring radioactive materials (NORM) have been measured for Cyprinus carpio fishes collected from several industrial fishes' lakes located in Baghdad governorate using gamma spectroscopy doped with high purity germanium coaxial detector (HPGe). Thirteen fishes' samples were collected from industrial lakes, three samples were collected from cages, and two samples were collected from Trigger River. The last two types of samples were collected in order to compare the results with it. The measured overall averages of S.A for Ra-226, Th-232, and K-40 were 58.
... Show More