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.
In the present work polymer electrolytes were formulated using the solvent casting technique. Under special conditions, the electrolyte content was of fixed ratio of polyvinylpyrolidone (PVP): polyacrylonitrile (PAN) (25:75), ethylene carbonate (EC) and propylene carbonate (PC) (1:1) with 10% of potassium iodide (KI) and iodine I2 = 10% by weight of KI. The conductivity was increased with the addition of ZnO nanoparticles. It is also increased with the temperature increase within the range (293 to 343 K). The conductivity reaches maximum value of about (0.0296 S.cm-1) with (0.25 g) ZnO. The results of FTIR for blend electrolytes indicated a significant degree of interaction between the polymer blend (PVP and PAN)
... Show MoreThe work include synthesis of nanocomposites (X / S / Ag) based on blend from Xanthan gum / sodium alginate polymers (X / S) with different loading of synthesized silver nanoparticales (0.01, 0.03 and 0.05 wt%) were added to the blend. The silver nanoparticles were prepared by reduction method and were characterized and analyzed using X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Atomic force microscope (AFM). XRD study showed the presence nanoparticle of silver with crystalline nature and face-centered cubic (FCC) structure and an average size of nanoparticles ranging from 32 to 37 nm. The surface study was performed using AFM which showed a fairly uniform shape to the nanocomposites and a spherical nature for the silver nanoparticles. The nanocomposite exh
... Show MoreElectronic properties including (bond length, energy gap, HOMO, LUMO and density of state) as well as spectroscopic properties such like infrared, Raman scattering, force constant, reduced mass and longitu- dinal optical mode as a function of frequency are based on size and concentration of the molecular and nanostructures of aluminum nitride ALN, boron nitride BN and AlxB7-XN7 as nanotubes has calculated using Ab –initio approximation method dependent on density functional theory and generalized gradient approximation. The geometrical structure are calculated by using Gauss view 05 as a complementary program. Shows the energy gap of ALN, BN and AlxB7-XN7 as a function of the total number of atoms , start from smallest molecule to reached
... Show MoreThe main objective of the central bank is to achieve price stability and target in fractionates. Therefore, the bank sought to use modern tools and policies in order to reduce the negative effects of the accumulation of foreign reserves represented by monetary sterilization, similar to developed and developing countries alike, but with different available tools that are possible and imposed by the local financial and monetary environments, such as the window for buying and selling foreign currency, open market operations and deposit facilities. And lending existing. Because any in crease in the monetary base resulting from the accumulation of foreign reserves will affect price stability directly due to the consumer nature of the
... Show MoreThe present research tackles a number of historical facts and incidents with a purely legal dimension in an important stage in the contemporary history of Iraq, especially the era of the British occupation. This resulted in innumerable social, political and legal problems, particularily the judicial legislation problems in Iraq. These legislations included a set of civil laws and in force governmental procedures that will be discussed historically by examining documents issued by the Ministries of Justice and Interior Affairs in the governments of monarchy for the period from 1921-to-1958. The data of the present paper relied on the Iraqi Library and Archives, (hence DKW). The study adopted the narrative historical methodology when inves
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