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.
Pauses as pragmatic markers are considered important devices that help readers to gain a better and deeper understanding of certain texts as well as speech, promoting effectively language communication. They can help both the speaker and the hearer, due to the functions they have in a text. Their occurrence in speech has a value that they make it more understandable. In this regard, the present study aims to examine the forms and functions of pauses in literary texts, more specifically, in selected extracts from two dramas, namely, Pinter's The Homecoming and Baker's Circle Mirror Transformation and to compare how the two writers use pauses in these two dramas. To do so, the sequential production approach of turn-taking by Sacks, Sc
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This paper addresses the new coloring in the concept of dystopian society as represented by the positive role of one of the characters vs. the passive role of the government and its mutual effect on the people of the society. In addition, it describes how all men in the dystopian society victimize and degrade the other through unlawful acts, like: stealing, rape, and fear, which are the lowest points in a moral decay. However, it offers hope by illustrating a positive sense, as exemplified by the doctor's wife out of Saramago's optimistic view that men may be descended from good women. Accordingly, the paper aims to examine the effect of the government’s role in the lives of the people who have later turned into blind in a dystopi
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The research aims to identify the role determined by the dimensions of marketing in the relationship represented by (trust in the relationship, commitment to the relationship, communication during the relationship) in how to contribute to the success of the industrial project management in Iraq as a case study in the General Directorate of Industrial Development. Their number is (50) workers, where the research problem centered on knowing the impact and importance of relationship marketing on the success of industrial project management. The descriptive analytical approach. Using SPSS and Amos, the researcher tested and analysed hypotheses about the relationship and the influence between the research variables through a questionnaire . Test
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The current study aimed to detect the effect of gentamicin stress on the expression of hla (encodes hemolysin) and nuc (encodes nuclease) genes of Staphylococcus aureus. Fifty-eight isolates identified as S. aureus were isolated locally from different clinical specimens. Disk diffusion method was used to detect the resistance to S. aureus. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of gentamicin was estimated by broth microdilution method. hla and nuc genes were determined by polymerase chain reaction technique. The biofilm was evaluated using the microtiter plate method in the presence and absence of gentamicin at sub-MIC. The results showed that 18 (31%) and 40 (69%) S. aureus isolates were sensitive and resistant to gentamicin, respectiv
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, AA Noaimi, ZT Burhan, Journal of Cosmetics, Dermatological Sciences and Applications, 2016 - Cited by 9
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Background: intravenous regional anaesthesia (IVRA) is an effective method of producing anaesthesia of the extremities. Disadvantages are the rapid loss of anaesthesia after the deflation of the tourniquet and the rapid development of postoperative pain. It is important to search for agents with longer durations of action, better nerve fibre selectivity, lesser degrees of motor blockade and lower incidences of systemic toxicity.Objectives: This study was designed to evaluate and compare the clinical effects of intravenous regional anaesthesia, with lidocaine alone, or in a combination with ketamine and atracurium for better analgesia, and to examine the possible clinical advantages of using muscle relaxants (i.e., atracurium) with intrav
... Show MoreThis paper addresses the new coloring in the concept of dystopian society as represented by the positive role of one of the characters vs. the passive role of the government and its mutual effect on the people of the society. In addition, it describes how all men in the dystopian society victimize and degrade the other through unlawful acts, like: stealing, rape, and fear, which are the lowest points in a moral decay. However, it offers hope by illustrating a positive sense, as exemplified by the doctor's wife out of Saramago's optimistic view that men may be descended from good women. Accordingly, the paper aims to examine the effect of the government’s role in the lives of the people who have later turned into blind in a dystopian so
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Research and Development Programs Effectiveness in the Central Library of Baghdad University