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.
Background: Type 2 diabetes mellitusand chronic periodontitis hold a close relationship that has been the focus of many researches. Currently there is an appreciation to the role of adipose tissue-derived substances "the adipokines" in immune-inflammatory responses; also, there is an interest in using the simple non-invasive saliva in diagnosing and linking oral and general health problems. The current study aims to determine the periodontal health status in the chronic periodontitis patients with and without poorly or well controlled type 2 diabetes mellitus, measure the salivary levels of two adipokines "leptin and resistin", pH and flow rate and then correlate between these clinical periodontal, biochemical and physical parameters in eac
... Show MoreBackground In recent years, there has been a notable increase in the level of attention devoted to exploring capabilities of nanoparticles, specifically gold nanoparticles AuNPs, within context of modern times. AuNPs possess distinct biophysical properties, as a novel avenue as an antibacterial agent targeting Streptococcus Mutans and Candida Albicans. The aim of this study to create a nano-platform that has the potential to be environmentally sustainable, in addition to exhibiting exceptional antimicrobial properties against Streptococcus Mutans as well as Candida Albicans. Methods this study involved utilization of
Objective(s): The present study aims at identifying the Iraqi Colleges of Nursing Deans' leadership
behaviors effectiveness and faculty members' motivation towards work in these colleges.
Methodology: Descriptive design has been used for the sample survey manner, which is the
appropriate approach to the study of social phenomena in the field where provides data on the reality of
these phenomena and relations between the causes and consequences and an analysis of it and perhaps
the factors affecting it and how it appears. The study relies on a questionnaire to collect data from the
participants which is composed of (86) items distributed on three axes: First, the demographic
characteristics which are composed of (8) i
Abstract
This research aims to define the roles of auditors by clarifying the concept and risks of cyber security in protecting information and financial data in economic units. Najaf, Babylon and Karbala, then the results were analyzed and the results were presented and analyzed to show that adopting cyber security improves the quality of reports Finance through what it achieves in displaying information with credibility and transparency, in a way that suits the needs of users, and cyber security has a role in managing economic resources more effectively to obtain benefits that would have been lost in the event of an
... Show MoreCorruption, in all its categories and forms, is regarded as the nowadays virus which has greatly spread in most institutes and society, a matter that cause a great waste of resources.
According to the reports of international transparency Institute, Iraq is regarded as one of the greatest countries in corruption.
Regardless of the reasons and forms of corruption, the retreat in work – values and ethics are the main reasons behind that.
Being the main source of providing qualified staff "educators" for the working market, the high education institutes face great challenges in standing against corruption inside and outside
... Show MoreQuality of e-service is one of the critical factors that decide the success or failure of organizations. It may increase competitive advantages as well as enhance the relationships with the customers. Achieving high e-service quality and user satisfaction are challenging since they depend fundamentally on user perception and expectation which can be tricky at times. To date, there is no agreement as to what service quality is, and how it should be measured, whether it is a function of statistical measures of quality including physical defects or managerial judgment, or it is a function of customer perception about the services. This paper deep-dived the quality of e-services offered b
The research aimed to test the effect of independent variables career plateaus and workaholism on employees loyalty through the influence of the mediator variable organizational socialization. Descriptive approach with survey style on a sample of managers and executives in the Iraqi Drilling Company in Basra's (123) employees. The most important findings of the research are: the existence of a significant effect of the independent variables career plateaus and workaholism in employees loyalty by having a mediator variable organizational socialization and introduced numerical from recommendations. &nbs
... Show MoreBackground: Dental caries is one of the most significant problems in world health care. Restoring carious primary teeth is one of the major treatment goals for Children, and the light activated resin restoration materials like composite, resin-modified glass ionomer and polyacid-modified which was introduced in dentistry in 1970, widely used in clinical dentistry but its application increased dramatically in recent years because of its biocompatibility, color matching, good adhesive properties of its resemblance in physical and mechanical aspects to tooth. The aim of this study: To evaluate the microleakage of Polyacid-Modified Composite resin Compared to Flowable Hybrid Composite and Resin-Modified Glass ionomer cement. Materials and me
... Show MoreBackground: Eucalyptus extracts and derivatives are natural substances with potent antimicrobial properties. This study investigated the in- vitro effects of non-nutritive sweeteners on the antifungal activity of alcoholic and aqueous Eucalyptus extracts against Candida albicans, a common oral pathogen. Materials and Method: Ten isolates of Candida albicans were isolated from dental students’ salivary samples. The alcoholic and aqueous extracts were prepared from fresh Eucalyptus leaves using maceration. The sensitivity of Candida albicans isolates to various concentrations of Eucalyptus extracts ranging from 50 to 250 (mg/mL) was evaluated via agar well diffusion method, while the agar streaking method was used to assess the minimum
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