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.
The therapeutic value of the phenolic component and pure thymol was well known; this study comprised the extraction of crude phenol from two plants (Thymus vulgaris and Artemisia annua) which contain thymol with pure thymol and evaluate their effect on hematological and histological by using three different concentrations of each plant extract and pure thymol to tested them on lab mice. All the mice were allowed free access to water and feed for 21 days in laboratory conditions; orally, pure water was administered to the control mice (group I), while groups II, III, and IV were given orally with T. vulgaris, A. annua, combination of last two crude phenol plant extract 50:50 and pure thymol respectively. The levels of CHO, TRI, and HDL were
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In the last few years, the literature conferred a great interest in studying the feasibility of using memristive devices for computing. Memristive devices are important in structure, dynamics, as well as functionalities of artificial neural networks (ANNs) because of their resemblance to biological learning in synapses and neurons regarding switching characteristics of their resistance. Memristive architecture consists of a number of metastable switches (MSSs). Although the literature covered a variety of memristive applications for general purpose computations, the effect of low or high conductance of each MSS was unclear. This paper focuses on finding a potential criterion to calculate the conductance of each MMS rather t
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A simple, accurate, and cost-efficient UV-Visible spectrophotometric method has been developed for the determination of naphazoline nitrate (NPZ) in pure and pharmaceutical formulations. The suggested method was based on the nucleophilic substitution reaction of NPZ with 1,2-naphthoquinone-4-sulfonate sodium salt in alkaline medium at 80°C to form an orange/red-colored product of maximum absorption (λmax) at 483 nm. The stoichiometry of the reaction was determined via Job's method and limiting logarithmic method, and the mechanism of the reaction was postulated. Under the optimal conditions of the reaction, Beerʼs law was obeyed within the concentration range 0.5–50 μg/mL, the molar absorptivity value (ε) was 5766.5 L × mol–1 × c
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In the present work, the critical micelle concentration (CMC) of the solution of Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) as anionic surfactant, Cocamidopropyl Betaine (CAPB) as amphoteric surfactant, and their mixture have been determined using surface tension and conductivity measurements at a temperature range 293 -323 K. The adsorption and thermodynamic micellization parameters (?G?m, ?G?ads, ?max ,Amin,?cmc ) for individual surfactants was calculated. Rosen model which is focuses on the adsorbed mixed surfactant film at the air/solution interface was used to calculate the interaction parameter ( ?? ) at the interface and the activity coefficients g1 and g2. The results indicate that the CMC of the individual surfactants was affected by
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Endothelin-1 (ET-1) is a potent vasoconstrictor hormone that has been identified as an important factor
responsible for the development of cardiovascular dysfunctions. ET-1 exerts its vasoconstrictor activity
through two pharmacologically distinct receptors, ETA and ETB that are found in vascular smooth muscle
cells (VSMCs) and the vasodilator activity through an ETB receptor located on endothelial cells. This study
aimed to show the impact of 1µM L-arginine (LA), 100µM tetrahydrobiopterin (BH4), and their combined
effect on ET-1 activity in both lead-treated and lead-untreated rat aortic rings. This means, investigating how
endothelial dysfunction reverses the role of nitric oxide precursor and cofa
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Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic led to a massive global socio-economic tragedy that has impacted the ecosystem. This paper aims to contextualize urban and rural environmental situations during the COVID-19 pandemic in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region.
An online survey was conducted, 6770 participants were included in the final analysis, and 64% were females. The majority of the participants were urban citizens (74%). Over 50% of the urban residents significantly (
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Sixteen new complexes with the general formula [M(L)2(H2O)2] were prepared resulting from the reaction of the two new Schiff base ligands, which are: - L1= (E)-5-((2-hydroxybenzylidene)amino)-2-phenyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one) L2 = (E)-5-((2-hydroxy-3-methoxybenzylidene)amino)-2-phenylpyrazolidin-3-one) With divalent metal ions (manganese, cobalt, nickel, copper, zinc, cadmium, mercury) and (tetravalent platinum). Ligands was derived from the reaction of the amine (5-amino-2-phenyl-2,4-dihydro-3H-pyrazol-3-one) with Salicylaldehyde and ortho-vanillin, which is linked to the metal ions via the nitrogen atoms are the isomethene group and the oxygen is the hydroxide group of t
... Show MoreNeural stem cells (NSCs) are progenitor cells which have the ability to self‑renewal and potential for differentiating into neurons, oligodendrocytes, and astrocytes. The in vitro isolation, culturing, identification, cryopreservation were investigated to produce neural stem cells in culture as successful sources for further studies before using it for clinical trials. In this study, mouse bone marrow was the source of neural stem cells. The results of morphological study and immunocytochemistry of isolated cells showed that NSCs can be produced successfully and maintaining their self‑renewal and successfully forming neurosphere for multiple passages. The spheres preserved their morphology in culture and cryopreserved t
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