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.
Different bremsstrahlung spectra from tungsten anode x-ray tube generated at 30, 40 and 50 kV have been examined theoretically and experimentally for an attempt to find a most suitable spectrum to radiograph a test object of 0.01 cm thickness of Cu and Ag. The high contrast using this suitable spectrum is demonstrated and the possible effects of fluorescent radiation are discussed.
The world's population growth and the increasing demand for new infrastructure facilities and buildings , present us with the vision of a higher resources consumption, specially in the form of more durable concrete such as High Performance Concrete (HPC) . Moreover , the growth of the world pollution by plastic waste has been tremendous. The aim of this research is to investigate the change in mechanical properties of HPC with added waste plastics in concrete. For this purpose 2.5%, 5% and 7.5% in volume of natural fine aggregate in the HPC mixes were replaced by an equal volume of Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) waste , got by shredded PET bottles. The mechanical propert
... Show MoreMany studies have been published to address the growing issues in wireless communication systems. Space-Time Block Coding (STBC) is an effective and practical MIMO-OFDM application that can address such issues. It is a powerful tool for increasing wireless performance by coding data symbols and transmitting diversity using several antennas. The most significant challenge is to recover the transmitted signal through a time-varying multipath fading channel and obtain a precise channel estimation to recover the transmitted information symbols. This work considers different pilot patterns for channel estimation and equalization in MIMO-OFDM systems. The pilot patterns fall under two general types: comb and block types, with
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The aim of this research work is to study the effect of stabilizing gypseous soil, which covers
vast areas in the middle, west and south parts of Iraq, using liquid asphalt on its strength properties
to be used as a base course layer replacing the traditional materials of coarse aggregate and broken
stones which are scarce at economical prices and hauling distances.
Gypseous soil brought from Al-Ramadi City, west of Iraq, with gypsum content of 66.65%,
medium curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), and hydrated lime are used in this study.
The conducted tests on untreated and treated gypseous soil with different percentages of medium
curing cutback asphalt (MC-30), water, and lime were: unconfined compression strength, and o
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Background: Schneiderian first rank symptoms are
considered highly valuable in the diagnosis of
schneideria.
They are more evident in the acute phase of the
disorder and fading gradually with time. Many studies
have shown that the rate of these symptoms are
variable in different countries and are colored by
cultural beliefs and values.
Objectives: To find out the rate of Schneiderian first
rank symptoms among newly diagnosed schizophrenic
patients, to assess which symptom(s) might
predominate in those patients, and to find out if there
is/are any correlation(s) between the occurrence of
these symptoms and the sex of the patients.
Methods: Out of twenty-four patients with no past
psychiatric hi
Purpose: To identify the risk factors of urinary incontinency for menopausal women.
Methodology: A descriptive analytic study was conducted to identify the risk factor for urinary incontinency
and selected non-probability sample (purposive sample) from (200) menopausal women (45-65) who have
urinary incontinence as visitors and caregiver women who attend at Hila surgical teaching hospital during the
period 1/11/2010-30/3/2011. Questionnaire format used for data collection was designed and constructed
after reviewing related literatures and previous studies and consists of the following variables: Demographic
and reproductive characteristics of menopausal women who suffers from urinary incontinence
Results: The study
Room temperature ionic liquids show potential as an alternative to conventional organic membrane solvents mainly due to their properties of low vapour pressure, low volatility and they are often stable. In the present work, the technical feasibilities of room temperature ionic liquids as bulk liquid membranes for phenol removal were investigated experimentally. In this research several hydrophobic ionic liquids were synthesized at laboratory. These ionic liquids include (1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide[Bmim][NTf2], 1-Hexyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl) imide[Hmim][NTf2], 1-octyl-3-methylimidazolium bis (trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide[Omim][NTf2],1‐butyl
... Show MoreA thin film of (SnSe) and SnSe:Cu with various Cu ratio (0,3,5 and 7)% have been prepared by thermal evaporation technique with thickness 400±20 nm on glass substrate at (R.T). The effect of Cu dopants concentration on the structural, morphological, optical and electrical properties of (SnSe) Nano crystalline thin films was explored by using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), atomic force microscopy (AFM), energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), UV–Vis absorption spectroscopy and Hall Effect measurement respectively. X-ray diffraction analysis reveal the polycrystalline nature of the all films deposited with orthorhombic structure which possess a preferred orientation along the (111) plane. The crystalline sizes o
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A lower extracellular pH is one of the few well-documented physiological differences between tumour and normal tissues. On the other hand, elevated glutathione (GSH) level has been detected in many tumours compared with healthy surrounding tissues. The compound II: 3-(9H-purin-6-yl-thio) carbonothionyl methyl-8-oxo-7-(2-thiophen-2-yl) acetamido-5-thia-1-azabicyclo-4-octo-ene-carboxylic acid was a cephalothin derivative contain 6-mercaptopurine (6-MP). Compound II react with general base catalysis in slightly acidic pH or with sulfhydryl nucleophiles to release the chemotherapeutic drug 6-MP. The generation of compound II was accomplished following multistep reaction procedures. The structure of compound II and its intermediate was confir
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