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.
A revision study of the Sphecidae from Iraq is presented. A survey is conducted to collect the specimens from different regions; generally, there were 41 species belonging to 12 genera and 4 subfamilies are revised with synonyms.
The current investigation included the species previously reported in Iraq, which were not collected during the current investigations; the distribution and other information are also provided.
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A collection of 118 specimens of Iraqi phasianid birds belong to four species was examined
for haematozoa. Results show that 21.2% of them were infected with one or more of four
species of blood parasites; Haemoproteus danilewskyi, H. santosdiasi, Plasmodium sp. and
microfilaria. Haemoproteus danilewskyi is reported here for the first time in Iraq.
There are different types of corruptions such as administrative, political, economic and financial corruption. The corruption forms also varied such as bribery, nepotism and extortion. All types and forms of corruption play significant role in the all economic variables generally and on investments in particular, and the corruption used to be an intermediate means in reducing the rate of economic growth. The corruption contributes in reducing the domestic investments via pay bribery by investors to officials’ persons for supplemental contracts and tenders which finally leads to reduction in the investment efficiency. The corruption also contributes in rise of operational costs for the investment projects. In additio
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The aim of present study is to determine the optimum parameters of friction stir welding process and known the most important parameter along with percentage contribution of each parameter which effect on tensile strength and joint efficiency of FS welded joint of dissimilar aluminum alloys AA2024-T3 and AA7075-T73 of 3 mm thick plates by applied specific number of experiments using Taguchi method .AA2024 was placed on the advancing side and AA7075 on the retreating side. FSW was achieved under three different rotation speeds (898, 1200 and 1710) rpm, three different welding speeds (20, 45 and 69) mm\min , three different pin profiles (cylindrical, threaded cylindrical and cone) and tool tilt angle 2◦. Taguchi method w
... Show MoreThis research attempts to shed light on a topic that is considered one of the most important topics of HRMs management, which is the Employee centric approach by examining its philosophy and understanding . To achieve the goal, the research relied on the philosophical analytical method, which is one of the approaches used in theoretical studies. The research reached a set of conclusions, the most important of which are the theoretical studies that addressed this entry in the English language and the lack of it in the Arabic language, according to the researcher's knowledge. The research reached a set of recommendations, the most important of which was that this approach needs more research, analysis and study at the practical and th
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The interaction in the city is reflected in the movement of people motivated by their activities and their economic and social goals, which include many variables subject to the planning process in the interpretation of this movement and the mapping of trends of transport intensity through the concept of transport function and its functional relationships with the uses of the earth in the sustainability and effectiveness of the movement of transport and Economic activity and population movement. Transport planners are concerned with the requirements of land use, which are linked to and included in the transport planning process as a factor for the future transport needs. There is a strong relationship between the transport system
... Show MoreEchinococcosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the larval stage of the tapeworm Echinococcus granulosus. This disease is an important public health and a significant economic issue in Iraq, where the lungs and livers are the popular places of infection. The aim of the current study focused on using the molecular techniques in the detection of an E. granulosus strain that causes cystic echinococcosis to human, sheep and cattle in Thi-Qar province, Iraq. In the current study, thirty isolates of E. granulosus were collected from 10 human hydatid cysts through surgery done at Al-Hussein Imam Teaching Hospital in Thi-Qar province and 10 sheep with 10 cattle hydatid cysts were obtained from the slaughterhouse in Thi-
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The present work represents a theoretical study for the correction of spherical aberration of an immersion lens of axial symmetry operating under the effect of space charge, represented by a second order function and preassigned magnification conditions in a focusing of high current ion beams. The space charge depends strongly on the value of the ionic beam current which is found to be very effective and represents an important factor effecting the value of spherical aberration .The distribution of the space charge was measured from knowing it's density .It is effect on the trajectory of the ion beam was studied. To obtain the trajectories of the charged particles which satisfy the preassined potential the axial electrostatic potential w
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