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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationships of capacity/layout (CL), design (D), location, (L), hygiene (H), human resource management (HRM), food quality (FQ) and ambiance (A) in operations management strategies (OMS) and the direct and indirect effects of OMS on customer satisfaction (CS) and customer behavioral intentions (CBIs) that might affect income and, therefore, be influential regarding café-restaurants in Sulaimania in Iraq. Design/methodology/approach Data are collected through a survey questionnaire using a simple random sampling methodology from 254 customers of 46 casual café-restaurants. Methodology includes demographic analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Findings Concerning relationships between structural and infrastructural elements of OMS, only CL and H influence HRM, D and H affect A, and H influences FQ. Regarding relationships between OMS and CS and CBIs, only L, HRM, FQ and A affect CS. Concerning the relationship between CS and CBIs, CS influences CBIs. Finally, given indirect effects of OMS on CS and CBIs, HRM mediates relationships between CL-CS and H-CS; FQ and A mediate relationships between H-CS; and CS mediates relationships between L-CBIs, FQ-CBIs and HRM-CBIs. Research limitations/implications The study that treats seven variables in OMS is limited to Sulaimania in Iraq. Thus, the findings cannot be generalized. The study might guide future studies about the way OMS elements forge CS and CBIs in café-restaurants where owners/managers develop credible strategic plans. Originality/value The study provides a unique insight into the hospitality industry in Iraq where studies among elements of OMS are few and far between.

Transformational leadership (TL) plays an important role in today's modern business world. Thus, the leadership style can encourage, inspire and motivate employees to seek innovation and positive change that positively related to customer satisfaction and effectiveness. Therefore, the main purpose of this study is to investigate transformational leadership effects on organisational citizenship behaviours and customer satisfaction. Primary data, for this study, were collected through two types of questionnaires delivered to employees working in small and medium enterprises in Kurdistan Region of Iraq, and their customers. Employees of those companies participated in 399 surveys, whereas 420 surveys were collected from related customers. Based on the structural equation modelling (SEM) method, results showed that idealised influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individual consideration have positive impacts on helping behaviours, whereas only helping behaviour has a direct effect on customer satisfaction. Moreover, inspirational motivation and individual consideration had significant indirect impacts on CS.

Ethical leadership is one of the influential factors on the organisational success. According to Al-Ghazali's conceptualisation justice, wisdom, temperance and courage have significant impact on the leader's effectiveness and in turn on team performance. In this respect, this study aims to investigate the relationship between ethical leadership and team performance with these virtues. Data of the study were collected from 408 employees among private companies in Kurdistan region of Iraq. Based on data analysis there is a positive correlation between ethical leadership (based on Islamic ethics) and leadership effectiveness and team performance. Regarding the dimensions of ethical leadership, justice, wisdom, and temperance are positively associated with leadership effectiveness and team performance whereas the relationship between courage and dependent variables is insignificant. The study contributes to ethical leadership and Islamic leadership literature by proposing a unique model based on Al-Ghazali's virtue of ethics perspective and providing empirical evidence regarding the effects of Islamic ethics on leadership effectiveness and team performance.

Purpose This paper aims to investigate the relationships between participative decision-making, ethical leadership and leadership performance, which might make school leaders quit autocratic behavior and enhance their performance at private K12 schools in Iraq. Design/methodology/approach The researchers collected data through a questionnaire using a stratified sampling methodology from 207 educators of 10 institutions. The research methodology included demographic analysis, factor analysis, structural equation modeling and mediation analysis. Findings The participative decision-making affected moral, knowledge and attitude that contributed to leadership performance. Besides, the only attitude mediated the relationship between participative decision-making and leadership performance. Research limitations/implications The study is limited to private K12 schools in Iraq. Therefore, the findings cannot be generalized. It might guide educational institutes to change their management style. Originality/value The study delivers a unique insight into education in Iraq.