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.
COVID-19 is a coronavirus disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was responsible for 87,747,940 recorded infections and 1,891,352 confirmed deaths as of January 9, 2021. Antibodies that target the Sprotein are efficient in neutralizing the virus. Methodology: 180 samples were collected from clinical sources (Blood and Nasopharyngeal swabs) and from different ages and genders at diverse hospitals in Baghdad / IRAQ between November 5, 2021, to January 20, 2022. All samples were confirmed infected with COVID-19 disease by RT-PCR technique. Haematology analysis and blood group were done for all samples, and Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay used an Ig
... Show MoreIn this study, the chamomile flowers (Matricaria recutitaL) which grow in Iraqi Kurdistan region during the seasons of (2008) are collected. The percentage of essential oil was determined by using steam distillation and the extraction of flowers performed with petroleum ether (70-80) ºC and methanol 70% using ultrasonic extraction. Total phenolic compounds were determined from methanol extracts by using Folin-Ciocalteu method. The extracts were evaluated by thin layer chromatography, ultraviolet absorption and the biological activities were evaluated through their antibacterial action against two types of bacteria using hole method. The flowers showed a composition of 0.071% ash, 0.4% essential oil, 3.2% non oily compounds, 4% oil, 1.9% mo
... Show MoreSchiff bases (SBs) based on amino acid derivative stand for multipurpose ligands that formed by condensing amino acids with carbonyl groups. They are significant in pharmaceutical and medical areas due to their widespread biological actions such as antiseptic, antifungal, along with antitumor actions. Transition metallic complexes resulting from SB ligands with biological activity were extensively experimented in the literature. In this article, we review, in details, about synthesizing and biological performances of SBs along with its complexes.
There have been many advances in the solar chimney power plant since 1930 and the first pilot work was built in Spain (Manzanares) that produced 50 KW. The solar chimney power plant is considered of a clean power generation that needs to be investigated to enhance the performance by studying the effect of changing the area of passage of air to enhance the velocity towards the chimney to maximize design velocity. In this experimental and numerical study, the reduction area of solar collector was investigated. The reduction area that mean changing the height of glass cover from the absorbing plate (h1=3.8cm, h2=2.6cm and h3=1.28cm). The numerical study was performed using ANSYS Fluent software package (version 14.0) to solve go
... Show MoreThe present project involves photodegrading the dye solochrom violet under advanced oxidation techniques at (25 oC) temperature and UV light. Zinc Oxide (ZnO) and UV radiation at a wavelength of 580 nm were used to conduct the photocatalytic reaction of the solochrom violet dye. One of the factors looked into was the impact of the starting conditions. pH, the amount of original hydrogen peroxide, and the dye concentration time radiation were used. For hours, the kinetics and percentages of degradation were examined at various intervals. In general, it has been discovered that the photodegradation rates of the dye were greater when H2O2 and ZnO were combined with UV light. The best wavelength to use was determined. Modern oxidation techni
... Show More(Sb2S3)1-xSnx thin films with different concentrations (0, 0.05 and
0.15) and thicknesses (300,500 and 700nm) have been deposited by
single source vacuum thermal evaporation onto glass substrates at
ambient temperature to study the effect of tin content, thickness and
on its structural morphology, and electrical properties. AFM study
revealed that microstructure parameters such as crystallite size, and
roughness found to depend upon deposition conditions. The DC
conductivity of the vacuum evaporated (Sb2S3)1-x Snx thin films was
measured in the temperature range (293-473)K and was found to
increase on order of magnitude with
In this study, aromatic polyamide reverse osmosis membranes were used to remove zinc ions from electroplating wastewater. Influence of different operating conditions such as time, zinc concentration and pressure on reverse osmosis process efficiency was studied. The experimental results showed, concentration of zinc in permeate increase with increases of time from 0 to 70 min, and flux of water through membrane decline with time. While, the concentrations of zinc in permeate increase with the increase in feed zinc concentration (10–300 mg/l), flux decrease with the increment of feed concentration. The raise of pressure from 1 to 4 bar, the zinc concentration decreases and the flux increase. The highest recovery percentage was fou
... Show MoreBy condensation of benzaldehyde with thiourea in absolute ethanol in the presence of glacial acetic acid as a catalyst, the Schiff base(1-benzylidenethiourea)[I] was synthesized by synthesis of 4-(3-benzylidenethioureido)-4-thioxobut-2-enoic acid compound[II] by reaction of maleic anhydride with schiff base [I] in DMF. When treating compound [II] with ammonium persulfate (NH4)2S2O8 (APS) as an ethanol initiator to obtain polymer [III], compound [III] reacted to polymer [IV] with SOCl2 in benzene. Sulfamethizole, celecoxib, salbutamol, 4-aminoantipyrine to yield polymers [V-VIII], compound [IV] reaction with different drugs. Spectral evidence established the structure of synthesized compounds: FTIR an
New types of hydrodesulfurization (HDS) catalyst Re-Ni-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 was prepared and tested separately with two prepared conventional HDS catalysts (Ni-Mo/ γ-Al2O3 and Co-Mo//γ-Al2O3) by using a pilot plant hydrotreatment unit. Activities of three prepared hydrodesulfurization catalysts were examined in hydrodesulfurization (HDS) of atmospheric gas oil at different temperatures 275 to 350 °C and LHSV 1 to 4 h-1, the reactions conducted under constant pressure 40 bar and H2/HC ratio 500 ml/ml .Moreover, the hydrogenation of aromatic (HAD) in gas oil has been studied. HDS was much improved by adding promoter Re to the Ni-Mo/Al2O3
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