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.
Osteoporosis is a prevalent systemic metabolic disorder characterized by a reduction in bone mass and bone density, damage in microstructure of bone tissue, and raised bone fragility causing of fracture susceptibility. This study included 189 Iraqi adults aged 45–75 years, evaluating serum levels TGF-β3 and WNT5A across three groups: healthy individuals (n = 31) as control, those with primary osteoporosis/osteopenia (n = 61), and with comorbidity-related osteoporosis (linked to β-thalassemia, parathyroid disorders or diabetes; n = 97). Among those, β-thalassemia-associated osteoporosis patients showed the most distinct decrease in bone mineral density (0.57 ± 0.078 g/cm², p < 0.0001) along with marked increases in WNT5A (0.89 ± 0.68
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DBN Rashid, International Journal of English Linguistics, 2019 - Cited by 2
The present work was aimed to form the baseline data of normal morphological and histological structure features of liver in migratory starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Anatomically, the starling liver bird was dark red -brown in colour and located in the cranial third of the abdominal cavity and consisted of undivided lobes (left and right). The liver right lobe was larger than the left. Histological examination revealed that the liver parenchyma was covered by a connective tissue capsule which appears to be thicker in the rim of liver lobes than other area in the liver lobe. Liver parenchyma was arranged in an unlimited hepatic lobules, which composed of polygonal hepatocytes organized as irregular, radial interconnecting cords or laminae of o
... Show MoreBackground: Bisphosphonates are potent inhibitors of osteoclastic bone resorption and widely used for the treatment of osteoporosis, and osteogenesis imperfecta in children. Clinical and experimental studies have demonstrated that Bisphosphonates delay or inhibit tooth eruption. This study tries to focus on the effect of bisphosphonate on teeth development and jaw bones growth. Materials and methods: The present study includes 65 neonatal rats during lactation period from 15 Albino Wister rats mother. Alendronate (one type of Bisphosphonates) was administrated orally (15 mg/kg) into 10 pregnant rats two times a week, while other 5 rats regard as control. Then the neonatal rats sacrificed in I, 6, 11, 16 and 21 days. The lower first molar we
... Show MoreSome major pollutants of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) those discharged as water produced (WP) from the AlAhdab oil field (AOF) in the ponds close to it may leak to the water resources around and eventually reaches the marshes which will affect its ecosystem. Thus, this work aims to track the availability of PAH in the water resources and the Main Outfall Drain (MOD) nearby. The determination of PAH was evaluated using “High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)”. The mean concentration of sixteen PAH in the produced water within the field was relatively high (0.01 to 10.89 g/ml) with standard deviations of (0.10.9). While, PAH outside the field were gradually diminishes down to (0.01-0.039) x10-2 g/ml which exceeds th
... Show MoreUrsolic acid (UA, 3 ?-hydroxy-urs-12-en-28-oic acid) are isomeric triterpenic acids. The high quantities of pentacyclic triterpenoids in Scabiosa species seems to be obvious and there is an evidence that most of pentacyclic triterpenoids that have been isolated are saponins. This is one of the most important characteristic of the genus Scabiosa, the main aglycones are ursolic acid and oleanolic acid. In the current study, isolation from the aerial part and roots of Scabiosa palaestina L. was performed using Preparative HPLC. Furthermore, detection and quantitation of ursolic acid was performed by high performance thin layer chromatography (HPTLC). The identification of isolated triterpenoid involves two methods including FT-IR coupl
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The Capparis spinosa L. is a species has a great interest in the field of traditional medicine for its pharmacological properties with many bioactive compounds. Our study is aiming at the recovery of this species through a phytochemical analysis and an evaluation of antibacterial and antioxidant activities of leaves of Capparis spinosa L. collected from natural habitats within the region of Al-Jadriya, Baghdad, Iraq. Phytochemical investigation demonstrated the presence of flavonoids, phenols, alkaloids, tannins, and glycosides in the methanolic extract of leaves. The quantitative analysis of total phenolic contents is being performed by Folin-Ciocalteau method and expressed in terms of gallic acid equivalents. C. spinosa exhibited progress
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Undoubtedly, Road Traffic Accidents (RTAs) are a major dilemma in term of mortality and morbidity facing the road users as well as the traffic and road authorities. Since 2002, the population in Iraq has increased by 49 percent and the number of vehicles by three folds. Consequently, these increases were unfortunately combined with rising the RTAs number, mortality and morbidity. Alongside the humanitarian tragedies, every year, there are considerable economic losses in Iraq lost due to the epidemic of RTAs. Given the necessity of understanding the contributory factors related to RTAs for the implementation by traffic and road authorities to improve the road safety, the necessity have been a rise for this research which focuses into
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