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 investigation was carried out to study the treatment and recycling of wastewater in the Battery industry for an effluent containing lead ion. The reuse of such effluent can only be made possible by appropriate treatment method such as electro coagulation.
The electrochemical process, which uses a cell comprised aluminum electrode as anode and stainless steel electrode as cathode was applied to simulated wastewater containing lead ion in concentration 30 – 120 mg/l, at different operational conditions such as current density 0.4-1.2 mA/cm2, pH 6 -10 , and time 10 - 180 minute.
The results showed that the best operating conditions for complete lead removal (100%) at maximum concentration 120 mg/l was found to be 1.2 mA/cm2 cur
Abstract: The research aims to assess the level of readiness of the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure for business continuity at Earthlink Telecommunications and Internet Services Company in Iraq, in light of the requirements of the international standard ISO/IEC 27031:2025. The research adopts a case study approach as an appropriate methodological framework for understanding and analyzing the organizational and technical complexity inherent in telecommunications sector organizations. To achieve the research objectives, a set of integrated data collection tools was employed, including field interviews with technical and administrative staff, a review of organizational documents and approved policies, as well as d
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The research focuses on the key issue concerning the use of the best ways to test the financial stability in the banking sector, considering that financial stability cannot be achieved unless the financial sector in general and the banking sector in particular are able to perform its key role in addressing the economic and social development requirements, under the laws and regulations that control banking sector , as the only way that increases its ability to deal with any risks or negative effects experienced by banks and other financial institutions. The research goal is to evaluate the stability of the banking system in Iraq, through the use of a set of econometrics an
... Show MorePrevious studies in Euro-American countries have shown that patients with chronic hepatitis C virus infection have increased levels of neuropsychiatric symptoms. While chronic hepatitis C virus infection has been reported in Arab countries such as Iraq, there is little studies about the neuropsychological burden associated with chronic hepatitis C among patients in the Arab region. The aim of the current study was to measure the prevalence and level of severity of depression, anxiety and stress among a sample of chronic hepatitis C patients in AL-Najaf province /Iraq. The current study was cross-sectional study carried out on (110) already diagnosed chronic viral hepatitis C patients who attended the Gastroenterology and Hepatology
... Show MoreBackground: Cholera has been recognized as a killer disease since earliest time. The disease is caused by infection of the small intestine by Vibrio cholerae O1 and O1391 which is characterized by severe dehydrating diarrheal condition and is one disease in modern times that is epidemic, endemic and pandemic in nature. Objective: This study was carried out to detect and isolate V. cholerae from patients suffered from watery diarrhea, which may cause severe complications such as dehydration, shock followed by death. Materials and methods: stool specimens were collected from 308 patients with watery diarrhea. These samples were tested with many criteria such as TCBS agar, gram stain, biochemical tests and VITEK-2 system to improve the isolati
... Show MoreExperiment was conducted in Baghdad, three factor were used in this research included Two types of Plows included moldboard and disk plows which represented the main plot, Three forward speeds of the tillage was the second factor included 1.85, 3.75 and 5.62 km / h which represented sup plot , and Three levels of Soil Moisture was third factor included 21, 18 and 14 % in all of Vertical and Lateral Plowing Deviation, Practical and specific productivity, actual time for plowing one donam and appearance (goodness) of Tillage represented by the number of clods > 10 cm in silt clay loam soil with depth 22 cm were studied. the experiment was used Split – split plot design under randomized complete block design with three replications and Le
... Show MoreThe fingerprinting DNA method which depends on the unique pattern in this study was employed to detect the hydatid cyst of Echinococcus granulosus and to determine the genetic variation among their strains in different intermediate hosts (cows and sheep). The unique pattern represents the number of amplified bands and their molecular weights with specialized sequences to one sample which different from the other samples. Five hydatitd cysts samples from cows and sheep were collected, genetic analysis for isolated DNA was done using PCR technique and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA reaction(RAPD) depending on (4) random primers, and the results showed:
... Show MoreKE Sharquie, SA Al-Mashhadani, AA Noaimi, WM Katof, THE IRAQI POSTGRADUATE MEDICAL JOURNAL, 2013 - Cited by 6