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.
Steel-concrete-steel (SCS) structural element solutions are rising due to their advantages over conventional reinforced concrete in terms of cost and strength. The impact of SCS sections with various core materials on the structural performance of composites has not yet been fully explored experimentally, and in this work, both slag and polypropylene fibers were incorporated in producing eco-friendly steel-concrete-steel composite sections. This study examined the ductility, ultimate strength, failure modes, and energy absorption capacities of steel-concrete-steel filled with eco-friendly concrete, enhanced by polypropylene fiber (PPF) to understand its impact on modern structural projects. Eco-friendly concrete was produced by the partial
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Smart thinking requires a continuous flexible systeroatic teaching in order that the lecturer can reach at easily, The Successful individuals in smart thin king are the most knowledgably with it, where the cognitive (intuitive- systematic) style has common bases with another cognitive styles in many traits, and these two concepts are the core of theorization of the rost important cognitive styles. The present study aims to measure the Smart thinking among university lecturers according to sex variable and recognize the statistically differences significance in the level of cognitive (intuitive- systematic) style among the university lecturers according to sex variable and recognize the correlation between smart thinki
... Show MoreThe problem of research is the need to find out the obstacles and difficulties facing women in accessing leadership positions at the University of Baghdad from their point of view. The importance of research comes from the importance of women in the university and their vital role in the development of society. The research objectives summarized the most important obstacles facing women Access to the leadership positions in the university and the relative weight of these obstacles as well as trying to identify differences in their view of these obstacles according to the variables of specialization (scientific, human) and the scientific title (Professor, Assistant Professor, Teacher, Assistant Lecturer). They were (144) university female
... Show MoreRadiotherapy is the branch of clinical medicine concerned with the application of ionizing radiation in the treatment of disease. And it is used to killing of cancer cells in a tissue using ionizing radiation while keeping the sparing of healthy cells at acceptable level. X-ray beams are used to deposit absorbed dose at depth within a patient at the site of the tumor. The aim of this work is studying the relationship between the depth dose and the field size in water phantom and homogenous actual planning. In our work, the dose distribution at different depths (zero-18 cm) deep at1cm interval treated with field size (10×10 and 20×20) cm2 were studied.
Results show that high similarity between water phantom and actual planning for th
Radiotherapy is the branch of clinical medicine concerned with the application of ionizing radiation in the treatment of disease. And it is used to killing of cancer cells in a tissue using ionizing radiation while keeping the sparing of healthy cells at acceptable level. X-ray beams are used to deposit absorbed dose at depth within a patient at the site of the tumor. The aim of this work is studying the relationship between the depth dose and the field size in water phantom and homogenous actual planning. In our work, the dose distribution at different depths (zero-18 cm) deep at1cm interval treated with field size (10×10 and 20×20) cm2 were studied. Results show that high similarity between water phantom and actual planning for
... Show MoreThis research discusses the rehabilitation of heritage markets in the historical centers of Islamic Arab cities and their use in the field of cultural tourism as one of the most important tourist attractions and the subsequent revival of the national economy in addition to preserving the urban heritage as these markets part of the historical centers of cities. The research also discusses the preservation of the continuity of heritage markets as a product of cultural heritage value within an integrated framework to preserve the urban heritage in the historic centers of cities. The study then reviews a number of experiences of Arab and Islamic countries in the field of preserving and rehabilitating heritage markets, which qualify them to b
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