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 Al Mishraq site has been the subject of many scientific studies for the period before and
after the fire in 2003. Five visits to the site were conducted twice in 2003 for general fact-finding, twice
in 2004, and once in 2005 for detailed sampling and monitoring. Desk-based research and laboratory analysis of soil and water samples results indicate that surface water and groundwater pollution from Al Mishraq site was significant at the time of its operation. The primary pollution source was the superheated water injection process, while the principal receptor is the River Tigris. Now that the plant is idle, this source is absent. Following the June 2003 sulphur fire, initial investigations indicate that short damage to
vegeta
Breast mass is by far the most important clinical problem that concerns the breast today. This study was carried out to evaluate diode laser as a cutting tool in breast mass excision and as a hemostatic tool for coagulation during surgery. Using 810 nm diode laser with optical fiber 600μm in diameter of conical tip, udder (cow's breast) tissue, and three female patients (mean age of 35.5 y with clinically palpable breast mass) had been used in this study. The patients were followed up regularly postoperatively. In preliminary work on udder tissue, the power needed for cutting and excision was 15W (power density= 5.3 kW/cm2). The time consumed for excision of a piece of udder tissue, 40×10×3 mm in dimensions was 5 min. The depth range
... Show MoreObjective: To determine the effectiveness of a dietary educational program upon the hypertensive client’s
information.
Methodology: The sample of the study consists of (60) hypertensive clients who attended Al Anbar Health Office –Al
Andalus Health Center during the period of the study from the14th of March 2010 to the 30th of September 2010. The
sample is divided into two groups; study group (30) hypertensive clients who received dietary educational program
and control group (30) hypertensive clients who received a routine care from the center. Three major instruments
were used; these instruments included (1) knowledge test which was applied on both groups pretest and eight weeks
post-test (2) questions to know
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A mixture of algae biomass (Chrysophyta, Cyanophyta, and Chlorophyte) has been investigated for its possible adsorption removal of cationic dyes (methylene blue, MB). Effect of pH (1-8), biosorbent dosage (0.2-2 g/100ml), agitated speed (100-300), particle size (1304-89μm), temperature (20-40˚C), initial dye concentration (20-300 mg/L), and sorption–desorption were investigated to assess the algal-dye sorption mechanism. Different pre-treatments, alkali, protonation, and CaCl2 have been experienced in order to enhance the adsorption capacity as well as the stability of the algal biomass. Equilibrium isotherm data were analyzed using Langmuir, Freundlich, and Temkin models. The maximum dye-sorption capacity was 26.65 mg/g at pH= 5, 25
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In the current study, three types of algae namely Tetradesmus nygaardi (MZ801740), Scenedesmus quadricauda (MZ801741) and Coelastrella sp (MZ801742) were extracted by 95% ethanol and hexane against two types of gram positive and two types of gram negative bacteria by wells diffusion methods. Eleven concentrations from the extract of algae (2, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35, 40, 45 and 50 mg/ml) were utilized. It was noticed that ethanolic extraction was more effective than hexane in Scenedesmus quadricauda than the two other mentioned algal species against all pathogenic bacteria, Acintobacter baumanii (ATCC: 19606), Klebsiella pneumonia (ATCC: 13883) Enterococcus faecalis (ATCC: 29212) and Staphylococc
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Today’s modern medical imaging research faces the challenge of detecting brain tumor through Magnetic Resonance Images (MRI). Normally, to produce images of soft tissue of human body, MRI images are used by experts. It is used for analysis of human organs to replace surgery. For brain tumor detection, image segmentation is required. For this purpose, the brain is partitioned into two distinct regions. This is considered to be one of the most important but difficult part of the process of detecting brain tumor. Hence, it is highly necessary that segmentation of the MRI images must be done accurately before asking the computer to do the exact diagnosis. Earlier, a variety of algorithms were developed for segmentation of MRI images by usin
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