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.
This study has been conducted to examin the effect of potassium sorbate at different level of 0.03,0.06,0.10% on the number of bacteria and mold and to extend the storage life of laboratory processed biscuit. The results indicated that the use of 0.03% potassium sorbate prolonged the storage peroid until the third month .three types of bacteria has been isolated from processed biscuit, namely, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus cereus, Esherichia coli using 0.06% potassium sorbate showed no growth of bacteria up to six month of storage ,while using of 0.03% and 0.06% potassium sorbate prevent the growth of mold up to three and six months of storage respectively. Both Aspergillus and Penicillium were isolated from the processed biscuit.
Manual probing and periodontal charting are the gold standard for periodontal diagnosis that have been used in practice over a century. These methods are affordable and reliable but they are associated with some drawbacks that cannot be avoided. Among these issues is their reliance on operator’s skills, time-consuming and tedious procedure, lack sensitivity especially in cases of early bone loss, and causing discomfort to the patient. Availability of a wide range of biomarkers in the oral biofluids, dental biofilm, and tissues that potentially reflect the periodontal health and disease accurately encouraged their use as predictive/diagnostic/monitoring tools. Analysing biomarkers during care-giving to the patient using chairside kits i
... Show MoreBackground: Chemotherapeutic medication treatment for cancer is typically used in conjunction with other techniques as part of a routine regimen. It is well established that the capacity of different chemotherapeutic drugs to induce apoptosis is correlated with their anticancer efficacy. Quinazolinone-based drugs have demonstrated excellent responses from several cancer cell types. These substances have a lot of potential for use as building blocks in the creation of apoptosis inducers. Objective: To assess the new quinazolinone derivatives (M1 and M2) that were recently synthesized for their potential to halt wound healing and to use the acridine orange/propidium iodide (AO/PI) double stain to assess their capacity to induce apopto
... Show MoreThis study was carried out to find out the effect of germination of broad beans and chickpeas seeds for different periods on their antinutritional factors content ( Trypsin inhibitor and Phytic acid ) and the chemical constituents of germination seeds compared with the control samples (ungerminated seeds) . The results indicated asignificant increase (P<0.05) in crude protein content as germination period proceeded.The highest values of 28.0% and 24.0% were reached on the sixth and fourth day for germinated broad beans and chickpeas respectively, The intial values were 25.6% and 23.5% for control samples, respectively. The content of raffinose,stachyose and verbascose were reduced as germination period proceeded, Stachyose and verbascose we
... Show MoreIn this work, magnesium aluminate spinel (MA) (MgO 28 wt%, Al2O3 72 wt%) stoichiometric compound , were synthesized via solid state reaction (SSR) Single firing stage, and the impact of sintering on the physical properties and thermal properties as well as the fine structure and morphology of the ceramic product were examined. The Spinel samples were pressed at of (14 MPa) and sintering soaking time (2h). The effect of adding oxide titania (TiO2) was studied. The obtained powders were calcined at a temperature range of 1200 and 1400 °C. The calcined samples spinel were characterized by XRD, it showed the presence of developed spinel phase end also showed that the best catalyst is titania. The SEM image showed the high sintering temperat
... Show MoreThe performance of asphalt pavements is crucial due to heavy traffic loads from civil and industrial developments. Various additives and modifiers are used in flexible roads to improve their resistance to deterioration caused by climatic changes. From this context, modifying the asphalt binder with polymers is popular in asphalt pavement construction. The present research investigates the effect of Polyethylene (PE) polymers in powder form on the characteristics of asphalt mixtures since these polymers are composed of hydrocarbons. It is similar to asphalt binders, making them very effective in enhancing the performance of neat asphalt produced from the oil refinery. To confirm this, two types of PE, High-Density PE (HDPE) and Low-Density P
... Show MoreThe disruptions in supply chains have put small‐ and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in dire need of resilient supply chains through which they can improve their performance. Based on the resource dependence theory, this study proposes a mediation model to improve the environmental performance (EP) of SMEs. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of supply chain resilience (SCR) on EP mediated by ambidextrous green innovation (AMGI). We proved a structural equation model based on questionnaire data from 261 companies in Iraq to test our hypotheses. The results show that SCR has a positive effect on AMGI for proactive and exploitative green innovation dimensions and positive impact on SMEs’ EP. AMGI plays a media
... Show MoreDespite the importance of sustainable development and its dimensions in developing performance and supporting competitive advantage in economic units, there is a gap and lack of coordination between Combined Assurance providers (management, internal audit, external audit) to report on sustainable development, and the research aims to propose a model for the Combined Assurance report to achieve development sustainable development in the Iraqi economic units, especially the Baghdad Municipality, enables assurance providers to coordinate efforts that lead to the achievement of Combined Assurance, The research found the proposed model for the Combined Assurance report in achieving sustainable development in the Iraqi economic units, es
... Show MoreVarious literary studies have investigated the psychological, social and cultural effects of traumatic events. They give voice to traumatised victims and enable them to convey and confront their traumas. However, these studies present a one-sided view, concentrating largely on the presentation of trauma in the industrial societies of the Western world. Recently, increasing attention has been devoted to identifying and depicting the forms and types of trauma that have been experienced in marginalised and neglected societies, such as the Iraqi society. Iraq has witnessed the unexpected fall of a brutal dictatorship, Western invasion and an unprecedented rise of sectarian discourses. This extreme violence has deeply affected many aspec
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