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.
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Abstract
Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate the family-centered care health services of family-provider partnership in Baghdad/ Iraq.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study is conducted in Baghdad Province. A cluster samples of 440 clients who review family centered care for the purpose of health services. The instruments underlying the study phenomenon deals with client's socio-demographic characteristics and family centered care questionnaire which include (partnership related to decision-making team, supporting the family as the constant in the child’s life, family-to-family and peer support and supporting transition to adulthood). The relia
... Show MoreEnhancement of the performance for hybrid solar air conditioning system was presented in this paper. The refrigerant temperature leaving the condenser was controlled using three-way valve, this valve was installed after the compressor to regulate refrigerant flow rate towards the solar system. A control system using data logger, sensors and computer was proposed to set the opening valve ratio. The function of control program using LabVIEW software is to obtain a minimum refrigerant temperature from the condenser outlet to enhance the overall COP of the unit by increasing the degree of subcooled refrigerant. A variable load electrical heater with coiled pipe was used instead of the solar collector and the storage tank to simulate the sola
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This paper features the modeling and design of a pole placement and output Feedback control technique for the Active Vibration Control (AVC) of a smart flexible cantilever beam for a Single Input Single Output (SISO) case. Measurements and actuation actions done by using patches of piezoelectric layer, it is bonded to the master structure as sensor/actuator at a certain position of the cantilever beam.
The smart structure is modeled based on the concept of piezoelectric theory, Bernoulli -Euler beam theory, using Finite Element Method (FEM) and the state space techniques. The number of modes is reduced using the controllability and observability grammians retaining the first three
dominant vibratory modes, and for the reduced syste
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In this work, an anti-reflection coating was prepared in the region (400-1000) nm of wavelength, with a double layer of silicon dioxide (SiO2) as an inner layer and the second layer of the mixture (SiO2) and titanium dioxide (TiO2) with certain ratios, as an outer layer using the chemical spraying method with a number of 6 sprays of layer SiO2 and 12 sprays of layer SiO2 - TiO2. Using the method of chemical spraying deposited on the glass as a substrate with a different number of sprays of SiO2, and a fixed number of TiO2-SiO2. The optical and structural properties were determined using UV-Vis spectroscopy and atomic force mi
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The Ant System Algorithm (ASA) is a member of the ant colony algorithms family in swarm intelligence methods (part of the Artificial Intelligence field), which is based on the behavior of ants seeking a path and a source of food in their colonies. The aim of This algorithm is to search for an optimal solution for Combinational Optimization Problems (COP) for which is extremely difficult to find solution using the classical methods like linear and non-linear programming methods.
The Ant System Algorithm was used in the management of water resources field in Iraq, specifically for Haditha dam which is one of the most important dams in Iraq. The target is to find out an efficient management system for
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The mucilage from the seeds of Lallemantia royleana family Labiatae was extracted and subjected to preformulation study for evaluation of its suitability for use as suspending agent. Furosemide suspensions were prepared using (1.5% w/v) of the extracted Lallemantia royleana mucilage, (1.5% w/v) chitosan and (0.35% w/v) xanthan gum. The mucilage was white in color and the average yield of dried mucilage obtained from L.royleana nutlets was 14 % w/w of the seeds used. It is sparingly soluble in water but swells in contact with it, giving a highly viscous solution. It is slightly acidic to neutral. It was found that the extracted natural mucilage of Lallemantia royleana exhibited a higher viscosity profil
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In recent years, there has been a rapid development in research on high performance ceramics for mechanical, electrical and medical industries. This development will be shown for alumina as a representative for oxide ceramics powders.
Dry–pressing forming technique was used to prepare different ceramic compacts for alumina grafted by polymethacrylate polymers. All Alumina compact were fired firstly at 1200 ◌ْ C, then
at 1600 ◌ْ C.
Mechanical strength was examined in different means, some
depends on compression and other depends on impact. Hardness was
also measured .The results obtained were compared with that of
Alumina compact prepared under the same condition from Alumina
especially made for pressing .
Background: Congenital club foot is a complex deformity of foot .It is a collection of different abnormalities, with different etiologies. Consequently, Severity varies with difficulties in evaluating treatment strategies with outcome results. The treatment of congenital club foot remains controversial. Usually, the orthopedist's goal is to obtain anatomically and functionally normal feet in all patients. Objective: To asses short term follow up result of conservatively treated club feet in relation to the age
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Increasing hydrocarbon recovery from tight reservoirs is an essential goal of oil industry in the recent years. Building real dynamic simulation models and selecting and designing suitable development strategies for such reservoirs need basically to construct accurate structural static model construction. The uncertainties in building 3-D reservoir models are a real challenge for such micro to nano pore scale structure. Based on data from 24 wells distributed throughout the Sadi tight formation. An application of building a 3-D static model for a tight limestone oil reservoir in Iraq is presented in this study. The most common uncertainties confronted while building the model were illustrated. Such as accurate estimations of cut-off
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