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.
Spent catalysts for sulfuric acid production have large amount of vanadium and due to environmental authority it is required to reduce the vanadium contain of the spent catalyst. Experimental investigation was conducted to study the vanadium recovery from spent catalyst via leaching process using sodium hydroxide to study the effect of process variables (temperatures, sodium hydroxide molarities, leaching time and particle size) on vanadium recovery. The effect of process variables (temperature, particle size,molarities of sodium hydroxide and leaching time) on the percentages of vanadium recovery were investigated and discussed .It was found that the percentage of vanadium recovery increased with increasing temperature up to 100 , incre
... Show MoreABSTRACT This study closely investigates the elements of Sigmund Freud’s theory “The Uncanny” in one of Larson’s most famous novels. Although the novel touches upon racial issues, the study explores the mysterious relationship between Irene and Clare based on the main features of Freud’s “The Uncanny,” which are represented by hidden sexual desire, envy, supernatural power, and double characters. The aspect of the sexual desire is indicated in the novel by sexual undertones expressed by Irene towards Clare’s physical features. Envy in the novel is expressed by Irene who shows resentful longing aroused by Clare’s possessions and qualities due to her passing to the white community. The aspect of omnipotence of thoughts is in
... Show MoreRecommender Systems are tools to understand the huge amount of data available in the internet world. Collaborative filtering (CF) is one of the most knowledge discovery methods used positively in recommendation system. Memory collaborative filtering emphasizes on using facts about present users to predict new things for the target user. Similarity measures are the core operations in collaborative filtering and the prediction accuracy is mostly dependent on similarity calculations. In this study, a combination of weighted parameters and traditional similarity measures are conducted to calculate relationship among users over Movie Lens data set rating matrix. The advantages and disadvantages of each measure are spotted. From the study, a n
... Show MoreWadi AL – yabis situated to the north jorden , its extended from Aglon
mountain to the jorden river , the surveying of this valley about 186 KM , and the
highest point in it about 1200 m upon the sea level , the lower point ther under the
sea level . This study lay to appear the historical important and to study the variation
of environment and population which happened in the different periods , in the
beginning the Paleolithic until the later period , and to understand the environment ,
political and economical circumstances , which it can to influenced or limited in
human behavior from choosing , the settlement sits and than ( we could ) knowledge
of living ways and the tools which they used in there living a
The research addresses a fundamental Islamic jurisprudential Purposeful issue, which is (Sharia), and to indicate the impact of this on Islamic jurisprudence, deriving rulings and extracting purposes, and to repel the illusion that this issue is only doctrinal, and clarifying the aspects of similarities and links between them by explaining the origin of deriving the purposes of Islamic Law (Sharia) through the meanings and wisdom learned from the texts and the explanation of the rulings. The rulings of Islamic Law (Sharia) have urged bringing benefits and repelling harms, and that the path to do so is reason and its production. I began the research by defining the purposes of Islamic Law (Sharia), then defining the rule of rational right
... Show MoreOrganic soil is problematic soils in geotechnical engineering due to its properties, as it is characterized by high compressibility and low bearing capacity. Therefore, several geotechnical techniques tried to stabilize and improve this soil type. In this study, sodium silicate was used to stabilize sand dune columns. The best sodium silicate concentration (9%) was used, and the stabilized sand dune columns were cured for seven days. The results for this soil were extracted using a numerical analysis program (Plaxis 3D, 2020).In the case of studying the effect of (L/D) (where ‘’L” and ‘’D’’ length and diameter of sand dune columns) of a single column of sand dunes stabilized with sodium silicate with a diff
... Show MoreThis study included synthesizing silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) in a green method using AgNO3 solution with glucose exposed to microwave radiation. The prepared NPs were also characterized using ultraviolet and visible (UV-vis) spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The UV/vis spectroscopy confirmed the production of AgNPs, while SEM analysis showed that the typical spherical AgNPs were 30 nm and 50 nm in size for the NPs prepared using black tea (B) and green tea (G) as reducing agent, respectively. The changes in some of the biochemical parameters related to the liver and kidneys have been analyzed to evaluate the probable toxic effects of AgNPs. 40 adult male mice were included in this study. To assess the probable he
... Show MoreThis work introduces the synthesis and the characterization of N-doped TiO2 and Co3O4 thin films prepared via DC reactive magnetron sputtering technique. N-doped TiO2 thin films was deposited on indium-tin oxide (ITO) conducting substrate at different nitrogen ratios, then the Co3O4 thin film was deposited onto the N-doped TiO2 layer to synthesize a double-layer TiO2-N/Co3O4 Photoelectrochromic device. Several techniques were used to characterize the produces which are x-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission-scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and UV–Vis spectroscopy. The Photoelectrochromic device was characterized by UV–Vis spectroscopy and the results show that the double-layer N-dope
... Show MoreInvestigating the thermal and electrical gains and efficiencies influence the designed photovoltaic thermal hybrid collector (PVT) under different weather conditions. The designed system was manufactured by attaching a fabricated cooling system made of serpentine tubes to a single PV panel and connecting it to an automatic controlling system for measuring, monitoring, and simultaneously collecting the required data. A removable glass cover had been used to study the effects of glazed and unglazed PVT panel situations. The research was conducted in February (winter) and July (summer), and March for daily solar radiation effects on efficiencies. The results indicated that electrical and thermal gains increased by the incre
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