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 importance of the research comes from dealing with the problem of lack of traffic awareness, which causes accidents and the occurrence of human and material losses, and the research aims to study the role of satellite channels in forming traffic awareness among the public, and a sample was chosen from Baghdad consisting of (280) individuals, male and female, and used the questionnaire tool. To obtain the data, which included several questions, the results were analyzed statistically and several results were reached, the most important of which is that there is an interest among the public in following traffic programs at a rate of one to two hours to receive information through traffic programs and to identify and apply gener
... Show MoreIraq within the ranks of the fledgling communities characterized by a broad base of the population pyramid, because they pose the age group (under 15 years) of a large proportion of the community, as it exceeded the proportion (40%) during the years of research extended (1986-2010) Despite the relative decline in the rates fertility during that period, but the proportion of young people remained high, especially for groups of at least five years, amounting to about 14% in 2012, a little more than the proportion of what constitutes age group (5-9 above) years, where it was (13%) and this naturally predicts continuing population increases in coming decades, due to the entry of those numbers of individuals in the reproductive stage,
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God saw his servants with truth and light, and made him easy for them, and he commanded those who help them, including a counselor, guide and preacher, so if a Muslim sees deficiencies or defects, he must help him to reform and refine it. That it was in the hands of the prophets, God Almighty created the human being together straight, then melted on those scholars and researchers in all religions on psychological counseling and religious sychotherapy, stressing the importance of religious values in the process of understanding man in the process of psychotherapy and in controlling human behavior. A lot of research and studies have been published. I dealt with the religious approach in the process of treating mental disorders and the aim of
... Show MoreAn experimental study is conducted to investigate the effect of heat flux distribution on the boiling safety factor of its cooling channel. The water is allowed to flow in a horizontal circular pipe whose outlet surface is subjected to different heat flux profiles. Four types of heat flux distribution profiles are used during experiments: (constant distribution profile, type a, triangle distribution profile with its maximum in channel center, type b, triangle distribution profile with its maximum in the channel inlet, type c, and triangle distribution profile with its maximum in the channel outlet, type d). The study is conducted using heat sources of (1000 and 2665W), water flow rates of (5, 7 and 9 lit/min). The water
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Artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) is a nutritious vegetable that grown all over the world. It is a promising herbal plant, rich in bioactive components. It is considered as medicinal plant due to its nutritional and phytochemical composition, especially high proportion of phenolic compounds. The primary aim of this study was to achieve chemical profile analyses of artichoke for different phytochemcials, especially Scolymoside and Cynaroside. Methanolic crude was extracted from Artichoke leaves by rotary evaporator and separated by column chromatography. The fractions monitored by Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC), and identified in High-Pressure Liquid Chroma
... Show MoreMammary tumors (CMT) in dogs in Iraq may be induced by carcinogenic war ordnance. In our study, 10 virgin un- spayed military/pet bitches aged 5-15 years presented with abnormal masses in the abdomen with painful oedema, swelling, anorexia, weight loss, weakness and mild fever. Examination of regional lymph nodes and thoracic radiography confirmed metastasis. Tumors were excised and determined to be mostly adenocarcinomas involving multiple glands, solid in texture, 5-15 cm in size, mostly in the inguinal mammary glands at stage T3: >5 cm. Microscopy confirmed presence of adenocarcinoma in 8 dogs and solid carcinoma in 2 with half of tumors being grade III. Tumors had pleomorphic hyperchromatic cell nuclei in stroma, epithelial cells of duc
... Show MoreCosmetic products contain variable amounts of nutrients that support microbial growth. Most contaminants in cosmetic products include bacteria such as Staphylococcus, Pseudomonas, Klebsiella, Achromobacter and Alcaligenes. Contaminated water is a likely source of organisms found in cosmetic products. Products such as shampoo, hand and body lotion, facial cleanser, and liquid soaps were analyzed. In this study, out of 60 cosmetic products analyzed, 26.4% were found to be contaminated. Most of the contamination was from bacteria and no fungal contamination was detected. The highest level o
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Stable isotopic technique and hydrochemistry was used in studying the water resources interaction of near Haditha Reservoir area, western Iraq. Throughout the study area, 14 groundwater samples (Bashina, Zwachi springs and Wells), 8 surface water samples from the study area, and 7 spring samples were analyzed for 2H and 18O stable isotopes and hydrochemical analysis. In this study, the temperature, altitude and continental effects on the isotopic composition of rain water in Iraq were studied. The climate of the study area is classified as semi-arid to arid region. The results show a variation in the isotopic values of Haditha reservoir and Euphrates river. This variation is due to the effect of the low surface area and the
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