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.
This research aimed to develop a simulation traffic model for an urban street with heterogeneous traffic capable of analyzing different types of vehicles of static and dynamic characteristics based on trajectory analysis that demonstrated psychophysical driver behavior. The base developed model for urban traffic was performed based on the collected field data for the major urban street in Baghdad city. The parameter; CC1 minimum headway (represented the speed-dependent of the safety distance from stop line that the driver desired) justified in the range from (2.86sec) to (2.17 sec) indicated a good match to reflect the actual traffic behavior for urban traffic streets. A good indication of the convergence between simulat
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Using fiber-reinforced polymer (FRP) could effectively improve the strength and endurance of reinforced concrete (RC) constructions. This study evaluated the flexural behavior of one-way concrete slabs with openings reinforced with glass fiber-reinforced polymers (GFRP) bars. It strengthened using carbon fiber-reinforced polymer (CFRP) sheets around the openings. The experimental program of this study is adopted by casting and testing four one-way concrete slabs with dimensions of (150*750*2650) mm. These slabs are divided into two groups based on whether they were strengthened or un-strengthened. For each group, two different openings (either one rectangular or two square) measured 250*500 mm and 250*250 mm, respective
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Abstract. Shock chlorination is a well-known practice in swimming pools and domestic wells. One of the limitations for using this technique in drinking water purification facilities is the difficulty of quickly removing high chlorine concentrations in water distribution systems or production facilities. In order to use this method in the drinking water industry a shock de-chlorination method should be introduced for producing microorganism and biocide free water. De-chlorination using natural stagnant aeration (leaving the water to lose the chlorine naturally) is the safest known method if compared with chemical and charcoaling methods. Unfortunately, stagnant aeration is a slow process. Therefore, developing a process for accelerat
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This paper discusses the method for determining the permeability values of Tertiary Reservoir in Ajeel field (Jeribe, dhiban, Euphrates) units and this study is very important to determine the permeability values that it is needed to detect the economic value of oil in Tertiary Formation. This study based on core data from nine wells and log data from twelve wells. The wells are AJ-1, AJ-4, AJ-6, AJ-7, AJ-10, AJ-12, AJ-13, AJ-14, AJ-15, AJ-22, AJ-25, and AJ-54, but we have chosen three wells (AJ4, AJ6, and AJ10) to study in this paper. Three methods are used for this work and this study indicates that one of the best way of obtaining permeability is the Neural network method because the values of permeability obtained be
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Leishmaniasis is one of the neglected parasitic diseases, which belongs to the family Trypanosomatidae. Cutaneous leishmaniasis is endemic in Iraq and the available drugs are of side effect or resistant by the parasite. In this study, cytotoxicity of methotrexate was investigated on the promastigotes proliferation of the Iraqi strain ofL.tropica.The results showed a significant (p ≥ 0.05) difference in growth of treated groupsat all concentration (1000, 500, 250, 125.5, 62.5, 31.25, 15.6) μM, after 24 and 48 hours of follow up, while after 72 hours, significant difference was observed at concentration(1000, 125, 62.5) μM.The IC50 measured after 24and 48 hours and it was 40.366 and 44.452 μM, respectively.The present study showed
... Show MoreObjectives To assess the feasibility and accuracy of a new prototype robotic implant system for the placement of zygomatic implants in edentulous maxillary models. Methods The study was carried out on eight plastic models. Cone beam computed tomographs were captured for each model to plan the positions of zygomatic implants. The hand-eye calibration technique was used to register the dynamic navigation system to the robotic spaces. A total of 16 zygomatic implants were placed, equally distributed between the anterior and the posterior parts of the zygoma. The placement of the implants (ZYGAN®, Southern Implants) was carried out using an active six-jointed robotic arm (UR3e, Universal Robots) guided by the dynamic navigation coordinate tran
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- baumannii is an aerobic gram negative coccobacilli, it is considered multidrug resistance pathogen (MDR) and causes several infections that are difficult to treat. This study is aims to employ physical methods in sterilization and inactivation of A. baumannii, as an alternative way to reduce the using of drugs and antibiotics.
Cold Atmospheric Plasma was generated by one electrode at 20KV, 4 power supply and distance between electrode and sample was fixed on 1mm. A. baumannii (ATCC 19704 and HHR1) were exposed to Dielectric Barrier Discharge type of Cold Atmospheric Plasma (DBD-CAP) for several periods
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This paper describes flexural behavior of two spans continuous rectangular concrete beams reinforced with mild steel and partially prestressing strands, to evaluate using different prestressing level and prestressing area in continuous prestressed beams at serviceability and ultimate stages. Six continuous concrete beams with 4550 mm length reinforced with mild steel reinforcement and partially prestressed with two prestressing levels of (0.7fpy or 0.55fpy.) of and different amount of 12.7 mm diameter seven wire steel strand were used. Test results showed that the partially prestressed reinforced beams with higher prestressing level exhibited the narrowest crack width, smallest deflection and strain in both steel and concrete at ul
... Show MoreThe chemical properties of chemical compounds and their molecular structures are intimately connected. Topological indices are numerical values associated with chemical molecular graphs that help in understanding the physicochemical properties, chemical reactivity and biological activity of a chemical compound. This study obtains some topological properties of second and third dominating David derived (DDD) networks and computes several K Banhatti polynomial of second and third type of DDD.
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