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 Ash'aris and their position on faith, An Ideological Study
Omed AbdulQader rasool
College of Islamic Sciences/Salahaddin University-Erbil
Abstract
The concept of faith is very complex, and there are a lot of talk about it among the major Islamic groups such as the Kharijites, the Mu'tazila, the Jahmiyya and others, because of its great importance, and the worldly and eschatological effects it entails according to the elements of faith such as recognition, ratification and action.
The researcher chose one sect, which is the
... Show MoreThe aim of the research is to identify the economic and cultural role of contemporary interactive artworks from the public's point of view, with knowledge of the most important obstacles and proposals to improve the level of design and spread of interactive artworks. The descriptive approach was used, and the researcher used a questionnaire tool that was distributed to the audience for the events of Noor Al Riyadh (2021) and the size of the participating sample was (194) individuals from all spectrums of society. It was found through the results of the existence of public approval of the economic role of contemporary interactive artworks, as they contribute to supporting the national economy. It attracts the public to attend various paid
... Show MoreThe developing countries, like our country Iraq suffer from deep comprehensive structural crisis, manifestations and a clear imbalance between the demand and the supply sides. The overall imbalance in the external balance. As a consequence, this caused the accumulation of foreign debts or failure in the implementation of economic development programs. The countries which are forced to resort to the International Monitoring Funds, and the World Bank for assistance and to express an opinion on policies that include restrictions controls that belong to the monetary, and fiscal side group, imposed on the economies crisis, as a condition for returning to normal which called reform programs. The organize of the events of radical changes in the
... Show MoreDisasters, crises and wars are a serious and unforeseen threat. The capacity of the early warning system to monitor such crises is therefore crucial. The ability to make quick decisions in a short time is necessary to prevent crises from occurring. Here, the role and effectiveness of the early warning system emerges through its ability to monitor, record and analyze signals. It can also be evidenced by its ability to immediately convey these indicators to the concerned authorities to take measures that ensure these conflicts and disasters do not worsen. The system’s ability to detect disasters and crises, identify the crisis and its type, and use the scientific method and common sense to deal with it is something that contributes to findi
... Show MoreBackground: Diabetes mellitus has been suggested
to be the most common metabolic disorder
associated with magnesium deficiency, and because
available data suggest that adverse outcomes are
associated with hypomagnesemia, it is prudent that
routine surveillance for hypomagnesemia be done
and the condition be treated whenever possible.
Aim of the study:To explore the serum Mg
concentrations of diabetic patients and healthy
controls in our locality.
Mehtods: One hundred and forty four diabetic
patients (22 with type I and 122 with type II diabetes
mellitus) recruited from the outpatient diabetes clinic
at the Specialized Center For Endocrine DiseasesBaghdad (62 patients), National Diabetes Center-Al
Background: Even the wide use of dental implants, still there is a proportion of implants are failed due to infection. Much considerable attention has been paid to modify the implant surface. Coating of dental implant with a biocomposite material of suitable properties can improve osseointegration. And this is the main concern of this study. The aim of present study was to evaluate the use of a biocomposite coating of dental implant with (ceramic nano Al2O3 and metalic AgNo3) on the bond strength at bone – implant interface and tissue reaction. Materials and methods: A total number of forty-eight screws, CpTi dental implant used in this study. Half of these screws were coated with a biocomposite material of nano (Al2O3and AgNo3), thi
... Show MoreThe study is dealing with an application reengineering process clean solar cells in the Ministry of electricity, as aimed at the possibility of the applicability and impact of re-engineering to achieve the level of performance of the Ministry's operations, with the application of the cleaning process solar cells, developed, improved and found a correlation, statistically significant effect between variable re-engineering and performance as well as the application of process reengineering clean solar cells:1- Before the re-engineering process the total time for cleaning up and solar cell 20 minutes and number of columns performed per day 24 columns and total columns750 which were completed per month that re
... Show More