This research investigated how digital transformation affects the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and organizational performance among private banks in Baghdad, Iraq. The study population consisted of 5,000 individuals holding various positions, including general manager, deputy general manager, department head, section head, and employee. To obtain a representative sample, the researchers employed the stratified equal random sampling method and randomly selected participants. As a result, a total of 406 questionnaires were distributed. However, only 197 questionnaires were valid and suitable for analysis, representing a percentage of 49% of the distributed questionnaires. The primary means of gathering information was through a questionnaire, and the data obtained were analyzed using inferential statistical techniques. The research findings indicated that the different aspects of entrepreneurial orientation, such as being proactive, taking risks, and flexibility, had a significant and beneficial influence on the organization's overall performance and its ability to operate effectively and engage socially. Nonetheless, the innovation aspect did not have a notable impact on the performance of the organization and its related dimensions. In addition, the research indicated that digitalization has a beneficial impact on the relationship between entrepreneurial orientation and the performance of an organization, making it more powerful. The research suggested that private banks operating in Baghdad province ought to promote innovation, foster productive social interactions, enhance their operational efficiency, facilitate digital transformation, and leverage their moderating influence to improve the performance of the organization by boosting entrepreneurial orientation.

Strategic IT-business alignment is being expanded by researchers and professionals owing to its beneficial effect on the performance of SMEs. Luftman (2000) [Luftman, J. (2000). Assessing business-IT alignment maturity. Communications of the Association of Information Systems, 4(14), 1–50.] created the Strategic Alignment Model (SAM), which integrates various alignment viewpoints to offer a cohesive perspective on IT-business alignment. While SAM was widely implemented for western IT studies by theoreticians and practitioners, its adoption is not evident in the Middle East with few available studies. The goal of this gap is to examine the effect of small and mediumsized enterprises (SMEs) in Iraq of three alignment styles (communication, governance and competency) listed in SAM. The findings of the current study verified the beneficial effect of all sorts of IT alignment centered on a survey of 228 owners, IT managers, but the latter has also shown a strong positive influence across various types of alignment. Theory and implementation implications are addressed, and more research recommendations are suggested.

The issues of audit quality and audit committee have received huge consideration from the auditing profession, the general public population and the government controllers particularly after the prominent corporate outrages in firms like Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, and WorldCom. These concerns discourage investors to invest in foreign and local businesses. The primary objective of the current study is to explore the impact of internal and external governance mechanisms such as board size, audit committee independence, audit committee expertise, and audit committee meetings on the quality of audit in selected firms. The study is carried out on a sample of Iraqi non-financial firms. The dependent variable is the audit quality measured as a dummy variable and it receives 1 if a firm receives audit services of big five auditing firms and zero, otherwise. To achieve the research objectives the study uses logit regression technique. The results indicate that there was a positive relationship between audit quality and the percentage of non-executive directors in the audit committee. The findings of the current study will be helpful for policymakers, researchers, accountants, financial experts, and audit practitioners in understanding the importance of the concept of audit quality and the key factors which affect the audit quality of any non-financial firms in Iraq.

n this era of industrialization, it is very difficult for firms to develop and sustain the competitive advantage. Industrial competition spread so rapidly worldwide, which neglect the differentiation of products and it is very difficult to sustain the competitive advantage in the market. Large economies capture the maximum world market and give tough time to small economies such as Iraq. Thus, the primary aim of the current study is to present a comprehensive theoretical framework for competitive advantage, which leads to better firm performance. Many studies have highlighted the area of competitive advantage of the firms, however, in a rare instance, literature has reported limited discussion on sustainable competitive advantage, especially in the context of Iraq. This research gap formulated four hypotheses, which are proposed the relationship between empowerment strategy, organizational learning and competitive advantage. The pick and drop method was adopted to distribute the questionnaires among four hundred manufacturing firms of Iraq. The results of the current study found a positive and significant relationship between empowerment, organizational learning and competitive advantage. Furthermore, the current study found a significant relationship be-tween empowerment strategy and organizational learning. Moreover, organizational learning was found the main contributory factor between empowerment strategy and competitive advantage in Iraq industrial context. This work contributes to the consistency of knowledge by developing a comprehensive theoretical account to build and sustain the competitive advantage of Iraq industry. Hence, the current work is helpful for sustainable competitive advantage of companies to achieve the highest firm performance.

The primary objective of the present paper is to explore the link between supply logistic integration, competitive performance, lean process and supply performance. To achieve our research objectives, we develop a unique model, which conceptualizes the said relationship. Porter’s value chain and the resource based views are used as theatrical lenses of the current study using Amos software package based on a data set of 220 Iraqi manufacturing firms. Structural equation modeling (SEM) is employed to analyze the dataset. The findings of the study show that the there was a positive relationship between supply logistics and competitive performance (operational) and supply performance and lean processes were partially mediating this relationship. The study also shows the importance of managing both internal (production processes) and external processes (logistics and supply chain) of firms’ operations in an integrated manner in which supply chain management acts through key internal processes to impact competitive performance. This is the first study, which uncovers what happens “in between” the incoming materials and the end outputs delivered by firms into the market. This “in between black box” is important in improving our understanding of how inbound supply activities are translated into outbound competitive performance outcomes.