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.
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Generally, the academic facilities necessitate specific criteria to be under the regional standards such as creative leaders, and a positive climates that induce to create an organizational culture within the academic institution. Consequently, these variables promote to improve the educational and administrative performance pursuing to achieve the general objectives. Thus, the current research aims to explore the level of privileged organizational culture among Baghdad University Colleges, explore the administrative creativity of deans and their assistants in addition to identify the relationship between them. The researchers prepared two instruments which were distributed among (70) individual of the targeted sample to collect the requ
... Show MoreBackground: The aim of this study was to determine phototoxic effect of visible blue light on anaerobic periodontal pathogens namely Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis. Materials and methods: Strains of Aggregatibacter actinomycetemcomitans and Porphyromonas gingivalis were isolated from pockets of systemically healthy patients aged between 35-55 years old with pocket depths of 5-6 mm, the bacteria cultured on special blood Agar plates solid media, then subjected to visible blue light emitted from commercially available light cure devise (LED curing light); that emits blue light (400-500nm) of 1000mw energy at different periods of time exposures, then the CFU of each plate was measured by direct colony count
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The aim of the research is to demonstrate the role of uncertainty in adopting the general requirements for the strategic environmental assessment of service departments in Babil Governorate and the Environment Department. By focusing on a range of environmental problems, despite the efforts exerted to deal with the environme
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The research aims to determine the strength of the relationship between time management and work pressure and administrative leadership, where he was taken a sample of (47) of the administrative leadership at the Higher Institute of security and administrative development in the Ministry of Interior was used questionnaire as a key tool in collecting data and information and analyzed the answers to the sample surveyed by using Statistical program (spss) in the arithmetic mean of the calculation and test (t) and the correlation coefficient, the research found the most important results: the existence of significant moral positive relationship between both time management and work pressure and administrative leadership, the leadership of th
... Show MoreThe current study aims to test the impact of green training and development on sustainable performance and explore its effects within and outside the Iraqi Ministry of Environment. The main research problem revolves around the question of the extent of implementing green training and development and sustainable performance in the ministry (What is the nature of the relationship between green training and development and sustainable performance in the ministry?). To clarify the relationship between the research variables, two main hypotheses were formulated along with sub-hypotheses. The study also aims to assess the level of the ministry's interest in the research variables and provide key recommendations to enhance sustainable performan
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The culture of theatre performance has a vital role in the process of reading the linguistic and visual signs of the performance. And the process of transforming a theatre performance from its original context into a new hosting cultural context starts from the actual reading of the text. Directors derives their new signs out of his personal culture, depending on the society where they lives and the culture that forms the social conventions, traditions and beliefs. The text is usually written within its own historical and temporal culture. The process of its production usually takes it away from its original culture, when it interprets the codes of the original writer and their visual and linguistic signs and instils new alternative sign
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Background: one of the complications of power bleaching is surface roughness of enamel which increases the possibility of post bleaching teeth discoloration. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of toothpaste containing nano hydroxyapatite, NovaMin and kin sense fluoride on surface roughness of human tooth enamel after laser bleaching with 35% hydrogen peroxide bleaching gel. Materials and Methods: Twenty human enamel incisors were cleaned and their labial surface polished up to #1200, then categorized into four equal groups; first group kept without bleaching as a control group, while the remaining three experimental groups were bleached with 35% hydrogen peroxide, and each group treated with a restore paste containing o
... Show MoreIs hardly day expire without hearing the news either Abuse Managementthe accounting standards or the existence of serious misstatements by someauditors.Which caused the demanding of many companies in the recent republication of the financial statements and the re-announcement of its financialresults. Such acts raise questioning about the role that should be played by theauditors, prompting agencies responsible for setting auditing standards to takeTo throw increasingly responsibility on the auditors in order to interest risksfraud The Risks of Fraud in their review of the financial statements.also The Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in the U.S.called about the need of owning the Certified Public Accountants those whoaudits for
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