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 study was designed to investing the drug prescribing pattern which is the important point in the rational or irrational use of drugs among patients dispensing their prescriptions from the private pharmacies in Maysan governorate, Iraq for a period of 1 month. The data collected from prescriptions were calculated and analyzed according to the WHO prescribing guidelines. The data showed that the mean of drugs included in single prescription was 3.4, and 12% of prescribed drugs were written as generic names; moreover, the percentage of antibiotics, corticosteroids and anxiolytics were 33.3%, 11.4% and 23.8% respectively. Those results indicate the irrational use of drugs when compared with the world health organization standard values
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Background: Health information systems in most countries are inadequate in providing the needed management support and the current health information systems are therefore widely seen as management obstacles rather than as tools,Objectives: the current study is an attempt to assess the behavioral and organizational determinants of health information system performance in Iraq.Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted by interviewed a total of 189 respondents selected from six Iraqi governorates. The Organizational and Behavioral Assessment Tool was used to measure the behavioral and organizational determinants of health information system performance, it is one of the PRISM package tools that are used to assess the health informatio
... Show MoreBACKGROUND: In 1972 complete description of the
inflammation of posterior third of the vocal cords was
done, with barium swallow confirming Gastro
Esophageal Disease [CRED] & subsequent successful
symptomatic treatment with antacid. The possible
association between GERD & chronic laryngitis was
initially known as acid laryngitis .2
*from the Department of ENT, Hawlear Medical College, Hawlear university. Department of ENT, Rezgary Teaching Hospital, Erbil.
Correspondence to :
Dr.Said Mustafa Said
Corespondence Address to : Dr.Said Mustafa Said _ E- mail: Email [email protected] Mob. 07504563829
Recived at : 15 th Dec 2009 Accepted at : 3ed Nov 2010
OBJECTIVE: To record the common presentat
... Show MoreMoisture damage is described as a reduction in stiffness and strength durability in asphalt mixtures due to moisture. This study investigated the influence of adding nano silica (NS) to the Asphalt on the moisture susceptibility of hot-mix-asphalt (HMA) mixtures under different aging conditions. NS was mixed with asphalt binder at concentrations of 2%, 4%, and 6% by weight of the binder. To detect the microstructure changes of modified Asphalt and estimate the dispersion of NS within the Asphalt, the field emission scanning electron microscope (FE-SEM) was used. To examine the performance of Asphalt mixed with NS at different aging stages (short-term and long-term aging), asphalt mixture tests such as Marshall stability,
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High-volume traffic with ultra-heavy axle loads combined with extremely hot weather conditions increases the propagation of rutting in flexible pavement road networks. Several studies suggested using nanomaterials in asphalt modification to delay the deterioration of asphalt pavement. The current work aims to improve the resistance of hot mix asphalt (HMA) to rutting by incorporating Nano Silica (NS) in specific concentrations. NS was blended into asphalt mixtures in concentrations of 2, 4, and 6% by weight of the binder. The behavior of asphalt mixtures subjected to aging was investigated at different stages (short-term and long-term aging). The performance characteristics of the asphalt mixtures were evaluated using the Marshall s
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In this study, the stable isotop 18O and 2H has been used to investigate the interaction of surface water (SW), and groundwater (GW) in Al-Taji district/ Northern Baghdad for two seasons (March and August 2022). 16 Samples were collected from water resources in the Al-Taji district (Tigris channel, Tigris River, and groundwater), in each season water samples from 8 Tigris channel, 5 drilled wells, and 3 Tigris River were taken for the analysis of the isotopes 18O and 2H. The average analysis results of 18O and 2H in the Tigris channel, Tigris River, and groundwater were found to be -3.435‰ and -18.6094‰, -2.07167‰ and -17.81‰, -4.125‰ and -34.707‰ respectively. The results, generally, show a comparable range of isotope c
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The free zone or the free economy cities are cities with classification and functional specificity, although the history of the concept of these areas has been It dates back to distant eras, but the intellectual and philosophical construction with the support of intellectual approaches, the most important of which is globalization contributed to its rapid spread globally and taking a variety of forms and models. With the diversity of its formulas and objectives countries have competed in adopting the establishment of these areas, meanwhile The influence of related trends affected the contemporary formation of these sites. Therefore ,the research was directed focus on the importance of adopting a set of common indicators (collection
... Show MoreThis paper examines the change in planning pattern In Lebanon, which relies on vehicles as a semi-single mode of transport, and directing it towards re-shaping the city and introducing concepts of "smooth or flexible" mobility in its schemes; the concept of a "compact city" with an infrastructure based on a flexible mobility culture. Taking into consideration environmental, economical and health risks of the existing model, the paper focuses on the four foundations of the concepts of "city based on culture flexible mobility, "and provides a SWOT analysis to encourage for a shift in the planning methodology.
Abstract
The public budget in Iraq is still prepared according to the traditional base that allocates the amounts of budget the current year based on the budget of previous year with an increase in estimations with random proportions without connecting the input (financial, human resources and asset )with their output (quantitatively and qualitatively)this caused waste and lose in the available resources therefore the output of budget showed be adapted is such a way that achieving connection between its input and output and to be appropriate with the organizational structure of the state without intrinsic change in its work .this may be realized by adopting the accounting of
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