Role of marketing in a consumer society Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Role of marketing in a consumer society - Essay Example Marketing can be said to have both positive and negative effects on society and hence the study of marketing strategies must include both effects if one were to take an objective and reasoned approach to it.Marketing plays a vital role in mediating between the producers and the consumers of goods and services. Without marketing, the consumers would not be able to get information regarding the products that the producers are producing and hence be bereft of the information needed to make informed purchases. Without marketing, the producers of goods and services would be unable to communicate the benefits of owning products and hence they would not be in a position to relay the necessary information to the consumers. Ever since the advent of the mass produced modes of production and patterns of mass consumption, marketing has been regarded as the indispensable medium through which the â€Å"conversation† between the producers and consumers happens. This is the reason for the hug e marketing budgets that producers have and the way in which the media is used to broadcast images and advertisements is another facet of the consumer society that we live in (Mooij, 1998, 15). This paper addresses the question, â€Å"what is the role of marketing in a consumer society?† by analyzing the case of Apple Inc., which is renowned for its innovative and sophisticated approach to marketing. The readings assigned for the course as well as the textbooks that are prescribed are referred to for this paper as well as external research into the marketing methods of Apple and the way in which it has established a position for itself in the contemporary hi-tech marketplace. Marketing can be said to have both positive and negative effects on society and hence the study of marketing strategies must include both effects if one were to take an objective and reasoned approach to it. As the readings make it clear, the era of mass produced goods and the consumer society we live in has seen marketing as a force for good as well as something that has negative connotations. The focus of this paper is on a critical examination of how marketing is practiced in a consumer society with an emphasis on how Apple has used marketing to further its interests. Segmentation Apple focuses mainly on users who are 30 years or younger and as a study by Rubicon (2008) found out, 50% of the users who use Apple’s products fall into this segment. Hence, it makes sense for Apple to orient its marketing strategies towards this segment and as can be seen from the branding and marketing strategies that Apple employs to target its core customer base. Further, it has been found that Apple has one of the highest return customers or customers who buy another Apple product and hence can be considered as giving repeat business to the company. The typical strategy followed by Apple is not horizontal marketing like making a special type of peanut butter for every customer but in engag ing in vertical marketing where it produces a specific product for each type of use. This can be seen in the way that Apple has produced an IPod for listening, IPad for reading and IPhone for apps. The point here is that Apple does not add features to target individual customers in each segment. Rather, they target specific user experiences and build the product around that user experience accordingly. This approach of Apple towards market segmentation makes for a study by itself. Apple’s approach of targeting a specific market and then producing high quality products for that market segment is novel and something that has been successful for the company. As the following quote about market segmentation shows it is the conventional theories of segmentation that usually dictate the strategies of the companies, â€Å"In the real world of building products and attacking market opportunities, market segmentation is the process of defining and sub-dividing the aggregate, homogene ous market into addressable, targeted needs and aspirations buckets, which are in turn, defined by thresholds according to demographic, psychographic and/or budgetary constraints. Market segmentation strategy enables a company to drive complete, unified product solutions that are harmonious with messaging,

Analyse the critical HR actions multinational corporations should take Essay - 1

Analyse the critical HR actions multinational corporations should take to facilitate expatriate adjustment - Essay Example 47) Black and Gregerson (1991) have described expatriate adjustment to foreign assignments as â€Å"the degree of psychological comfort with various aspects of a host country,† (p. 463). This has led to many of the domestic employees being exported into exotic locations and countries with diverse cultures and economic systems. Similarly, local companies lacking appropriate expertise and human resources are increasingly seeking expatriates to operate their expansive production units as well as provide training to the domestic workforce. Experienced labourers in saturated markets also seek employment abroad as they lack employment opportunities within their domestic locations or crave for better remuneration that accompanies foreign assignments (Swarts and Plessis, 2007). Foreign assignments and postings generally prompt exuberant excitement from those employees chosen to undertake such tasks as the prospect of career advancement, finance increments and other benefits beckon. However, these feelings of career windfall quickly wane once they get to the actual locations. The probable causes of the trauma are ‘cultural shock, language barriers, and severance from the relatives’ will ultimately impinge on the work, efficiency and expenses to the organisation. The expatriates’ agitation means that they either adjust to the locality conditions or abscond from the assignment and return to their home countries (Koteswari and Bhattacharya, 2007). The dysfunctional cost of stress in overseas postings may lead to detrimental consequences like, skiving, drunkenness and drug addiction, high turnovers, untimely exit, internal and external antagonism, nonattendance, among others. A study by the University of Pretoria (2008) on expatriate turnovers in foreign postings, principally on their attitude to the jobs revealed that ‘organisational commitment and job

Perinatal Factors and Schizophrenia Essay Example for Free

Perinatal Factors and Schizophrenia Essay In considering the various statistical tests, the studies have based their analysis on the total population and basically by looking at the factors that encourage the occurrence of Schizophrenia among the offspring following from the effect of these factors on the parents. That is, the factors that are likely to affect the genetic composition that is inherited by the offspring in causing schizophrenia. Various statistical tests were used that include logistic regression, Poisson regression and Mantel-Haenszel test. Systematic review was also used in the case where raw data was not used, and was done by the reviewing of the previous studies. The value of the calculated statistics The factors that were considered in the various studies are statistically significant in explaining the factors that cause schizophrenia depending on the varied populations that the studies used. The factors that are identifiable as being a cause for schizophrenia include; children who are born by the mothers who were exposed to some severe life experiences and more especially the death of a close relative during the first trimester ( Ali K, Kathryn, Roseanne, Marianne, Roger and Philip, 2008). This situation increases the possibility of the the offspring developing schizophrenia. The other factor that encourage the developing of schizophrenia among the offspring is the tendency for the parents to expose themselves to analgesics. The effect of the analgesics in encouraging the development of schizophrenia is independent of either male or female parent exposure to analgesics. The treatments offered to the mother during pregnancy also increase the possibility for schizophrenia to develop among the offspring. The other factor that is identifiable as a cause for schizophrenia among the offspring is when the mothers had a psychotic disorder during their adult life, more especially the mothers who had preeclampsia during their adult life. The place and time of birth also has an influence in causing schizophrenia among the children. The children who are born in urban areas and in some months of the years are at risk of developing schizophrenia compared to the ones born in the rural areas and in the months of the years other than March and early December. The obstetrical complications during pregnant and the infections by influenza virus are also among the factors that lead to the development of schizophrenia among the offspring. Significance to nursing practice The factors identifiable as the cause for schizophrenia are very important in the nursing practice. The nurses are able to provide advice to the mothers on the various practices that they are expected to adapt in protecting their offspring from developing of schizophrenia. Therefore, it will be a preventive measure other than curative. Following the nature of schizophrenia, it is better to prevent than providing a cure, hence significant to the nursing practice. Discussion Interpretation of the results. On analyzing all the articles, it is identifiable that all the studies had focused on the causes of schizophrenia among the offspring following the various factors that surrounded the parents, that is, both the male and the female parents. Therefore, schizophrenia is perceived as being a genetic complication that is transmitted from the parents to their offspring. Implications The main cause for schizophrenia is the genetic distortion that occurs within the parents following some factors, which is later evident in the offspring. Therefore, schizophrenia is an hereditary complication. Study Limitations The information used in some other studies was never complete, that is some information were missing for some objects used in the study. The strengths and the weaknesses of the Study. The studies provide a mixed reaction following the various factors that are considered as a cause for schizophrenia and they have not given the genetic mechanisms that are involved in occurrence schizophrenia, otherwise, they have used an inductive approach. Summary The cause for schizophrenia is attributed to the factors that affect parents of an offspring and more especially during pregnancy. The factors affect the genetic structure that is later reflected in the characteristics of the offspring.

The Personal Development Plan Management Essay

The Personal Development Plan Management Essay This report explores ideas about the leadership skills required by a manager to operate efficiency at strategic level. In this report we will describe strategy, its purpose and the strategic skills required of the leader to achieve the strategic ambitions. Introduction:- The personal development plan, in relation to the middle manager are very important, though these enable the managers to identify their training developmental needs, and then it offers the opportunities for the development of the skills, competencies and capabilities of the middle managers, i.e. PDP (Personal Development Plan) facilitates and supports the development of the Personal Development Record of the individual or the middle manager. (Rucchell and Richard, 2002) Strategy: strategy is a term that refers to a complex web of thoughts, ideas, insights, experiences, goals, expertise, memories, perceptions, and expectations that provides general guidance for specific actions in pursuit of particular ends. Far too many companies either have no goals at all, other than cost reduction or their boss hides them in his head. Theres no hope for companies in Britain unless more top managements accept the need for a widely communicated set of clear objectives. (Peter Beek, ex-Chairman, The Strategic Planning Society, 1987) The organization is influenced by the strategic leader, and in the context of an ideally clear vision and direction, the organization draws its resources (employees, managers, plant, supplies, finance, etc.) from a competitive business environment. It has to compete with other firms for labour, supplies, loans etc. And its operates in a network which includes its suppliers and financial backers, with whom one would expect it to have strong and robust relationships. There is one old saying: People learn to managers by managing under the guidance of a good manager. Good strategic leader also need to use knowledge about the skills and the aspects of managing people, activities and themselves that they need to understand. To become a better leader it is necessary to develop skills and knowledge .The leader will be better prepared to do this if they have a general understanding of the process of management. The personal development plan:- The personal development plan, in relation to the middle manager are very important, though these enable the managers to identify their training developmental needs, and then it offers the opportunities for the development of the skills, competencies and capabilities of the middle managers, i.e. PDP (Personal Development Plan) facilitates and supports the development of the PDR (Personal Development Record) of the individual or the middle manager. (Rucchell and Richard, 2002) Bush (2003) reflects that the Personal Development Planning is the structured, systematic and planned process undertaken by the individual to reflect upon their own learning, performance and/or achievement to plan for their personal, educational and career development. Thus it can be said that the main purpose of the Personal Development Plan for the middle manager is to help the middle manager to learn more effectively and efficiently, and to be able to (Mabey and Less, 2007): To learn through a large variety of ways and in the large variety of the contexts Recognize the own learning of the middle managers and then list evidences for the learning of the managers and the progress which they are making through the learning Review, plan, and bear the responsibility by the middle managers for their own learning development of the skills Identify, define and recognize the training, learning development needs of the middle managers Draw upon and use the expanded pool of the personal knowledge by the middle managers in order to achieve the particular career or learning development related goals In the context of the organisation, the purpose and role of the Personal Development Plan is to enable the organisation to identify, plan and recognize the developmental and growth needs, and then adopting the effective strategies and initiatives in order to make the all people or the workforce having the level of learning development up to the required standards. Thus, the personal development plan in order to the organisation is associated with the learning and development of the whole workforce of the organisation, so that it can contribute the maximum for the accomplishment of the strategic and operational objectives of the organisation. (Kellerman, 2010) Leadership: Leadership occurs whenever one persons attempts to influence the behavior of an individual or group, regardless of the reason. Leadership and management are fulltime responsibilities that must be practiced every hour of everyday. The most effective leaders will be people who use their energies to accomplish desired able to use the leadership style appropriate to that situation. Peter f.drucker pointed out that leaders are the basic and scarcest resources of any business enterprise. According to George R.Terry:-leadership is the activity of influencing people to strive willingly for group objective. Acc.to Harold Kountze and Cyrill ODonnell state that-leadership is influencing people to fallow in the achievement of a common good. Leaders must know where they are going if they are to achieve their purpose. Jack Welch, chief executive officer of general electric, stated-the effective leader leads through a vision, a shared set of values, and a shared objective. Role of leader: Leaders need to think about how and to what they can manage the development of the capabilities of their organization. Good leader manage themselves as well as other people. They cannot delegate everything. They have get support, advice and assistance from their staff. Good management necessary for good and successful company. So if the staff members well trained and qualified there are lots of benefits to the company. The role of the well trained and qualified leader in any organization involves the acceptance of many responsibilities. The responsibilities and duties of leader: Leader has the duty of rising an atmosphere that improves the effectiveness of the workers and employment force. This is complete by, cooperation and inspiration with the staff. For this Leaders conduct and work force. This is done by, cooperation and originality among the workers. For this Leaders arrange meetings with staff, listening and addressing the troubles of every section and most important the staff by example. Leaders have the extra duty of chalking out the in service financial plan of a business or company. This refers to manipulative how much money was spend and how much money can be spend for given that the services or goods to consumers. Leaders have even more duties when the entire position of work is not fine in the Company. Dealing with issues like client complaints, delivery delays and worker grievance are element and package of Leaders job. Throughout these situations, Leaders leadership skills are actually tested. Leaders have to make hard, quick and efficient decisions for serving to run the corporation easily and for solving troubles and preventing them from re-surfacing. Leader is a highly answerable and totally essential part, as well as a very commendable location in a company or organization. Leaders objectives are to find out ways by which the company can become more creative. Successful Leaders require having a well-built wisdom of leadership, along with fast and effective investigative abilities. Another significant feature that businesses seem for in Leader is vast communication skills. The leadership skills:- The leadership involves a lot of skills. These include thinking about what the business is setting out to achieve aims and objective. These also include organizing, taking decisions, monitoring and giving direction in order to lead an organization. Management leading the organization and giving direction to employees. It involves the control of all type of resources. Leader need to think about how to communicate with staff to get the best results. Business knowledge is also extremely important. If the leader has good knowledge about the business, they provide advice about what is best for its future. The skills involved can be divided into three areas: Conceptual skills: conceptual skills the is the cognitive capability to notice the business as a entire and the dealings along with its parts. Conceptual skills involve the leaders idea, knowledge processing and development abilities. Conceptual skills are essential by all leaders but are particularly significant for leaders at the top. They must observe major fundamentals in circumstances and broad, intangible patterns. For example he Software Company of Microsoft reflects the conceptual skills of its founder. The company overall business goals clearly stated and effectively communicated. These also help to contributing to Microsofts leadership status and billion dollar revenues. But the advert capability will be narrow. A senior engineering leader who is held up in scientific matters slightly than ideas deliberately will not do well at the top of the company. Many of the duties of top leaders, such as decision making, resource allocation and innovation, need a broad view. Human skills:- Human skills are the leaders capability to work with and throughout other individuals and to work efficiently as a team members. This skills is established in the way a leader relate to other workers, including the capability to motivate, make possible, organize, direct, communicate them without fear of ridicule and encourages contribution. The leader with human skills likes other individuals and is liked by them. EBay CEO Meg Whiteman believes her mainly significant involvement to the organization is creating a work values and culture to facilitate is fun, open, and trusting. Human skills also important at all levels, and for that person who work with workers directly on a daily basis. Organizations commonly misplace good workers because of front-line bosses who fail to show respect and concern for workers. (Sue Shellenbe 2000) Technical skills:- Technical skills are accepting of and ability in the act of specific tasks. Technical skills include mastery of the methods, techniques and tools concerned in definite functions such as manufacturing, mechanized or finance. Technical skill also includes specialized information, logical capability and the knowledgeable use of tools and techniques to solve difficulties in that specific regulation. Organization has to stay on their toes and use all their skills and competencies to benefits the organization and its stakeholder-employers, customers, investors, the community and so forth. According to Edward Elgar There is music in the air, music all around us, said composer.The tune heard most often by todays leaders may be the constant ring of a cell phone tying them to the organization .leaders can become a leader who set the pace for an organization and lead people in a different kind of performance. Leaders also find the off-key notes, bring people together and inspire them to act in ways that accomplish the organizations vision. Understanding people, communicating, building team work and inspiring others are the essentials of effective organizational leadership. By developing leadership skills in understanding human behaviour, communication, teamwork and motivation, leaders can boost an organizations chance of hitting all the right notes. The benefits of well trained and qualified leaders are: Make clear objectives and plan Organize work Command the people under them by giving instructions Co-ordinate the resources such as money,people,time for which they are responsible Control activities and people by measuring and correcting them to enable performance to fit the plans. The leadership strategy:- The leadership strategy should concentrate on what line leaders have to do as leaders in order to play their vital and immediate part in increasing levels of engagement. This will include the implementation of learning programmers that help them to understand how they are expected to act and skills they need to use. The strategy should therefore include the steps required to make performance management more effective by increasing the commitment of leaders to it and developing the skills they require. Opportunities for personal growth:- A strategy for providing development and growth opportunities should be based on the creation of learning because it is recognized by top management, line leaders and employees generally as an essential organizational process to which they are committed and in which they engage continuously. (Reynolds, 2004: 21) the strategy defines the steps required to ensure that people have the opportunity and are given the encouragement to learn and grow in their roles. Opportunities to contribute:- Creating a work environment that gives people a voice by encouraging them to have their say, and emphasizes as a core value of the organization that management at all levels must be prepared to listen and respond any contributions their people make. Organization development strategy:- Organization development strategy is based on the aspiration to improve organizational capability, which is broadly the capacity of an organization to function effectively in order to achieve desired results. The process of integrated strategic changes as conceived by Worley et al (1996) can be used to formulate and implement organization development strategies. Impact of encouraging the team welfare on achievement of the objectives: The team welfare is associated with the welfare of the members of the team. The welfare of the team means the respect, mutual trust, co-operation coordination, and congruence between the team members, which enables the team to accomplish the desired team objectives. The team members when having the effective transfer of the knowledge and communication in between each other practice their tasks with the level of cooperation and congruence, develops the environment for the team favourable, and hence, then the accomplishment of the strategic objectives of the business are well supported with the desired team performance results. (Thornton, 2003) Employee effectiveness Employees make a major contribution towards the achievements and goals of an organization. Involvement of employees in the decisions of an organization is not its goal but it is important to manage employees so as to make sure that they contribute in an expected manner. There are various ways that help in improvement of employees contribution in decision making like suggestion systems, continuous meetings, discussions and events and taking corrective action when required. The most significant method to do this is to recognize the efforts of the employees and reward them for those efforts, this motivates them to work hard as he is being praised and recognized for his work. It is impossible that each and every employee of an organization takes part in all the decisions. A change is required in the organization to try and improve employees contribution. Change management is a key to increase employees involvement in decision making. This process involves a few steps Create such a plan which leads in involvement of maximum people. In change management, only a small number of employees have access to important information about change. If only these people make plans of change management, the other employees wont get the time to think about and adopt new ideas. Although it is no possible to involve employees in the change decision of an organization, but they can be involved in the meaningful decisions regarding their work. Measurement systems should be brought in the organization which helps the employees to know about their work. Employees should be recognized and rewarded for their extra ordinary work. Organisational Behaviour Decision Making Decision making in organisation behaviour is very vital and it is one of the most important function for any organisation. Decision making is a process of choosing alternative course of action from different alternatives available and it should be kept in mind that the decision made should be effective and efficient for the organisation. According to the Herbert A.simon decision making involve three steps which are mentioned below. Identifying the problem- This step includes the identification of the problem that the organization is facing Identify and examine the different alternatives available to solve the problem. At last when the problem is identified and the various options are available then the organization decides which alternative to choose and that alternative should be effective for the organization. Conclusion:-Being good strategic leaders has knowledge all those skills, they putting them together and gaining the best possible results. The skills are not just for use by leaders-they can be used by everyone to improve their chances of success, in whichever type of organization they work. Leaders spend about 80 per cent of their time working with and through other people, assisting their organizations to reach organizational goals effectively and efficiently. Developing interpersonal networks and believing in abilities of subordinates are all ways in which leaders can become more effective leaders. Perhaps the simples and best advice is that: Good leaders sleep well at night-because they have clear consciences after the decisions of each working day.

Gain Sharing :: GCSE Business Marketing Coursework

Gain Sharing Employers are often faced with the challenge of looking for ways to boost productivity and profitability while at the same time, motivating employees to accomplish organizational goals. For many employers, variable pay plans have risen to meet this challenge. A variable pay plan ties pay increases to increased performance and productivity. One of the more popular group variable pay plans is called gain sharing. Under gain sharing pay programs, both the employer and the employee benefit from increased productivity. Therefore, gain sharing has often been referred to as a win-win pay program since it is an incentive strategy that ties pay to productivity. Gain sharing is a type of incentive plan designed to increase productivity by linking pay directly to specific improvements in a company’s performance. Gain sharing is used primarily when quantitative levels of production are important measures of business success. Gains are shared with unit/department employees on a monthly, qu arterly, semiannual or annual basis according to some predetermined formula calculated on the value of gains of production over labor and other costs. The plan lets employees reap some of the rewards of their efforts through teamwork and cooperation and by working smarter and harder. Gain sharing plans offer the following:  · Directly ties pay to some important measure of company performance  · Results in productivity improvements when installed  · Appropriate for all groups of employees  · Improves communications and teamwork among employees  · Increases employee awareness of "the big picture"  · Improves job satisfaction and employee relations  · Increases employee participation through involvement in the system Gain sharing pay programs have the following disadvantages:  · Time consuming to design, implement and administer  · Requires employee orientation, education and training  · Accurate and timely production and cost data must be available  · If not already in place, gain sharing requires a shift to participative management and employee involvement Once you decide to add a gain sharing plan to your company you must pick the type of plan you wish to implement into your company. The following is a description of different types of plans a company could implement. A Value Added Plan is the cost of materials and services is subtracted from sales to determine a value added figure. Employee costs are then compared to this figure to arrive at a value added index. This index is compared to value added for future periods to determine if there has been an improvement in productivity. To the extent that employee costs are less than would be the case by applying a value added index to a value added, there is a productivity gain to be shared.

The Churches Of Christ: A Comparative Essay :: essays research papers

The Churches of Christ: A Comparative Essay Over the past ten years there has been much controversy in the Christian and secular media about the International Churches of Christ (ICC), and the United (or mainline) Church of Christ (CoC). This controversy has stemmed from the ICC's misuse of funds, doctrinal problems, member abuse, and mind-control. The differences between the CoC and the ICC are important for Christians know and understand. The CoC began in 1957 when these four groups merged The Congregational Churches, The Christian Church, The Evangelical Synod of North America, and The Reformed Church in the United States. These churches had firm Protestant roots in England, Germany, Sweden, and the United States, totaling over 49 years in their own traditions and fellowship. On June 25, of 1957, the four churches held a synod meeting in Cleveland, Ohio, to commit more fully to unity, liberty, freedom in Christ, and the evangelism of the world. These groups, under the head of the Uniting General Synod, became the United Churches of Christ. Today the CoC has over two thousand registered churches in the world. By 1979, the roots of the CoC were firmly in place. It was then that Chuck Lucas, a pastor at the Gainesville Church of Christ (mainline), met a young college student, Kip McKean, and began discipling him. Kip was a bright student and showed great potential for leadership in the church. However, something in the discipling process went wrong. Kip was expelled from the Gainesville church later that year for reasons dealing with departure from the CoC doctrine, manipulative attitude, unclear motivation, and controlling of other's lives. Kip and his wife Elena moved to Boston and started a small church that grew rapidly from thirty to over three hundred disciples in two months. Kip (who, by this time, proclaimed himself as "God's man for God's mission") then declared in his Evangelism Proclamation speech in 1981 that disciples of his Boston church would be sent out to start sister churches in London, Chicago, New York, Toronto, Providence, Johannesburg, Paris, Stockholm, Mexico City, Hong Kong, Bombay, Cairo, and throughout the United States by the year of 1985. His success with this goal led him to present another Evangelism Proclamation in 1990 that said that every city in the world with a population of over 75,000 will have a sister church by the year 2000. Today the ICC is in over seventy two countries, with a recorded attendance (as of January 1997) of 920,000 people. It is important to note that the ICC's current "fall-away (members who leave the church) rate" is

How Is Othello Viewed By Others And How Does He View Himself Essay

The Shakespearian tragedy ‘Othello’ is a story of immensely contrasting opinions where jealously rules rife over the flawed, but heroic leading character. With racism even alive today, the fact that this character was of dark skin raised even more controversy around the Shakespearian era. The audience that would have first viewed this play would have had preconceptions about the personality and the role that Othello would ensue. Due to the stereotypical and racist viewpoints that people held at this time, black was in any case a colour associated with evil or deformity, therefore the character of the black Othello was expected to be violent, jealous, treacherous and most likely associated with witchcraft. Shockingly, especially for the people of the Shakespearian era, Othello does not relate to this stereotype and is in fact quite the opposite at the start of the play- the calm and strongly composed character. Some of these stereotypical ‘black’ traits however are indeed seen in the play, but controversially from another character, the white Iago, who incidentally plays the role of the evil manipulator. Othello’s character is portrayed to the reader in his composed first words- ‘Tis better as it is’. The line being only a half-line proves his characters’ firm but comfortable personality, needing only to say the controlled necessary in each situation. As his personality seems to be so strong and wise, it is unusual that Iago deems Othello as an easy target to manipulate- ‘will tenderly be lead by the nose as asses are’. Iago’s obvious hatred for Othello is overly emphasised throughout the play by his disregard and lack of respect towards the character. He constantly makes racist comments about Othello to others, but never to Othello himself, naming him- ‘Barbary horse’ to Desdemona’s father and stating that he does ‘hate the Moor’ to Roderigo. Even when referring to the obviously loving relationship that engulfs both Othello and Desdemona, Iago shows ignorant and disrespectful mannerisms, reducing their physical love to animal level- ‘old black ram is tupping your white ewe’ and showing that he obviously does not agree with this martial pairing. Iago’s authentic character is hinted at early on in the tragedy, where in one of his longer speeches he finishes- ‘I am not what I am’. This points the reader towards Iago’s true colours, which are rarely put openly on show. His willingness to manipulate and take advantage of other characters (such as Roderigo) in order to force Othello into the deepest amount of torment proves just how much of a cunning and dangerous actor Iago can be. The ‘stage managing’ techniques he uses throughout the play portray just how determined Iago is to truly ruin Othello’s life and the lengths that he is prepared to reach in order to gain revenge upon Othello for not awarding him the idealised promotion. It is therefore often difficult to decipher Iago’s true feelings and attitudes towards Othello as he constantly adjusts his viewpoint to suit that of his company, for example when in the company of characters such as Othello, Desdemona and Cassio, Iago speaks of Othello positively and even at one point presents a contrasting emotion- ‘My lord, you know I love you’. However, when characters such as Roderigo and Brabantio are in attendance, he again insults Othello naming his supposed arrogance- ‘loving his own pride and purposes’. Although it is apparent that he has strong hatred towards the character, the reasons behind this hatred are never completely discovered. The reader is left to decipher whether the feeling is down to irrepressible racism or dark jealousy, or even a mixture of both. Even when Iago’s shrewd plan is foiled towards the conclusion of the play, his attitudes towards Othello still remain constant. He shows no feeling of remorse and depicts himself as a party holding little guilt- ‘I told him what I thought and told no more than what he found himself was apt and true’ Although this statement if looked at individually is actually truthful (Iago never once stated that Desdemona and Cassio were in fact indefinitely committing adultery), the fact that Iago orchestrated the imaginary relationship between Desdemona and Cassio and that he introduced doubt into Othello’s mind in the knowledge that ambiguity could potentially ruin him, shows that he still aims to manipulate even as the play draws to closure. Iago’s racist views however, are also shared by other characters in the play, the main two named Roderigo and Brabantio. Although both these characters have more personal motives to justify their disapproval of Othello, Iago’s manipulative skills again come into force to emphasise their negative emotions. Until the final moments before his death Roderigo is completely under the influence of Iago and tends to follow his views even if they do not completely match his own. He racially abuses Othello in the company of Iago, naming him- ‘the thick lips’ and ‘lascivious Moor’. These racial prejudices show that he also does not accept the way of which Desdemona and Othello have an indisputable bond, but his apparent hatred goes deeper than this disapproval. As Roderigo is intensely besotted with Desdemona he also seems to be jealous of her love for Othello and believes that the character is not good enough for her, stating that she -‘hath made a gross revolt’. For these reasons Roderigo falls prey to the manipulative Iago, becoming a pawn in his ever growing plot. Unlike Roderigo, Brabantio holds strong racist views about Othello without the influential voice of Iago, showing a genuine condemnation of the relationship between his daughter and -‘the Moor’. This view would have been commonplace in Shakespearian time, as even today principles of racial equality and sexual freedom are unfortunately still far from being completely accepted. He shows legitimate discomfort when referring to the relationship, questioning how Othello could have possibly gained his daughters hand without using some sort of treachery- ‘Is there not charms by which the property of youth and maidhood may be abused?’ Brabantio also finds it understandably challenging to accept that Othello’s intentions of which involve his daughter are honourable -‘Abused her delicate youth with drugs or minerals’. These views would have again been shared by the Shakespearian audience, who associated people of dark skin with witchcraft and trickery. Brabantio may have respected Othello as a military general, as a close acquaintance, and perhaps even as a friend, but it is clear that he never considered Othello good enough to be a husband for his daughter. Characters that form negative or racist views towards Othello do rarely mention these ideas directly to his face, maybe because of his strength as a character, or possibly because of his incessant reputation of being composed and carefully resilient with his language. Each character that states negative views towards the general however is proved at the end of the play to be completely incorrect, and in most cases foolish. Not all characters view Othello in such bad light conversely, most respect him as a brave and honourable general, showing him great loyalty and love- the Duke being one of these. He obviously sees Othello as a brilliant general and valuable friend- ‘Valiant Othello we must straight employ you against the general enemy Ottoman’. Even when Brabantio, a close friend of the Duke, shows obvious racial disagreements towards Othello, the Duke stands up for the general’s cause, stating to Brabantio that his -‘son-in-law is far more fair than black’. This proves that the Duke does accept Othello’s ethnic background and believes that Othello does not hold the usual traits of the stereotypical â€Å"Moor†. Desdemona is unsurprisingly the character that can distinguish Othello as doing no wrong. Even after malicious attacks and verbal abuse from the general, Desdemona does not speak out against her love. Desdemona is infatuated with Othello and this becomes apparent from her very first speech of the play where she states that if she is forced to choose whether to be obedient to her father or to Othello, she must choose Othello- ‘So much I challenge that I may profess due to the Moor my lord.’ She continues with this loyalty throughout the play and clearly sees Othello as an accomplished husband- ‘to his honours and his valiant parts did I my soul and fortunes consecrate’. Desdemona evidently notes that Othello takes his career very seriously and portrays her understanding of this when propositioned by Cassio in order to regain his position of lieutenant- ‘He shall in strangeness stand no farther off than in a politic distance.’ She respects this and endeavours to cause no harm to his reputation and ability. Further on into the play -where jealousy has completely engulfed Othello- Desdemona defends him when questioned by Emilia about whether Othello is in fact covetous, stating that Othello is incapable of feeling such as jealously- she sees him as almost god-like – ‘I think the sun where he was born drew all such humours from him.’ In even the darkest times when Othello acts so awfully and deeply unjustifiably, Desdemona’s love for him still rules strongly over her heart- ‘My love doth so approve him that even his stubbornness, his checks, his frowns-prithee unpin me- have grace and favour in them.’ On her death bed, moments before she is to depart from the world at the hands of her loved one, Desdemona is still unable to speak out against him. She sees through his vicious acts and it is clear to her that the man she married is no longer the corrupted man that stands before her. With her last words to Emilia she states that she doesn’t hold Othello responsible for her death, and even at this perilous moment, names her husband well- ‘Nobody; I myself. Farewell. Commend me to my kind lord.’ She always manages to see Othello positively. Emilia herself, closely linked with Desdemona and often mistreated by her husband Iago, quickly alters her opinion of Othello as the play progresses. Her attitudes towards men are already bitter and derive mainly from the way that Iago has treated her throughout their marriage. She seems to be a feminist and is able to stick up for women- but only in the absence of a male presence. For Emilia the way in which Othello treats Desdemona only emphasises this feeling- ‘they eat us hungerly, and when they are full, they belch us.’ Unfortunately it is evident that Emilia has not always thought of Othello in this negative manner. She awards him the benefit of the doubt as she recognises that his behaviour is becoming erratic and almost stumbles upon Iago’s secret- ‘Remove your thought. It doth abuse your bosom. If any wretch have put this in your head, let heaven requite it with the serpent’s curse!’ Othello’s final behaviour allows Emilia to justify her racist statements- ‘O, more the angel she, and you the blacker devil!’ Othello at his most degrading point in the play reverts to the stereotype that he originally seemed so far from, even though it is apparent to the reader that his reactions are in fact more like Iago’s. Emilia’s final realisation forces her to make yet another racist comment and name Othello as gullible- ‘Oh thou dull moor’. Brabantio’s relative, Lodovico, is the character that shows an obvious change in attitudes towards Othello, in a strikingly short space of time. He undoubtedly thinks well of Othello before his visit to Venice as he greets the general respectfully- ‘God save you, worthy general!’ and clearly accepts his ethnicity. For this reason, Lodovico is clearly shocked when Othello raises his hand to Desdemona and strikes her across the face, and states this surprise and utter disbelief at what he has just witnessed from what was once a courageous general- ‘My lord, this would not be believed in Venice, though I should swear I saw’t.’ This statement gives us a glimpse of how Othello is viewed by others universally. He is seen as a noble character, lacking in the extreme emotions now observed by Lodovico. Brabantio’s relative begins to question Othello’s mental disposition- ‘Are his wits safe? Is he not light of brain?’ and his attitudes have clearly now reversed as he now holds reservations about the stability of Othello’s character, whereas before he was sure that the general was of such a great confidence- ‘Is this the noble Moor that whom our full senate call all-in-all sufficient?’ Lodovico departs from the scene with a controversial and, obvious to the reader, ironic line- ‘I am sorry that I am deceived in him.’ This line shows that Lodovico has lost faith in Othello’s character, and feels almost cheated by what he has seen. It seems unfortunate that he feels as he does towards Othello, when truly as he even speaks the line, Iago is the authentic deceptive culprit. Cassio, the object of hatred in Othello’s eyes, does not really say much about his attitudes towards Othello, but what he does say and what is said about his attitudes by others show what he truly feels towards the general. He obviously shows much loyalty towards Othello, he is his lieutenant and until jealousy sets in, a trusted friend. This is made apparent when Desdemona attempts to change her husband jealous views about the unfairly treated Cassio -‘and so many a time when I have spoke of you dispraisingly hath tane your part’ (Desdemona about Cassio). Even after he has been the subject of confusing and malicious actions by the changed Othello, he still speaks of him well- ‘For he was great of heart.’ This highlights one of Othello’s â€Å"tragic flaws†. He is unable to make a good judge of character, and seems to be enormously gullible, believing the sly Iago over the honest, but sometimes vain, Michael Cassio. Cassio obviously thinks well of the troubled Othello. The views of the characters are extremely varied when involving Othello, and these views are changeable throughout the entirety of the play. However none are as interesting and somewhat confusing as how Othello in fact sees himself. His character goes through three notable stages which seem to show great contrast and diversity with each other. At the beginning of the tragedy Othello is obviously a proud individual, and openly speaks about his noble background- ‘I fetch my life and being from men of royal siege’. He is of distant relation to royalty, and for this reason carries himself with a certain majestic and noble manner. He has a shockingly high opinion of himself and this can sometimes be perceived as an arrogant trait- ‘my parts, my title, and my perfect soul shall manifest me rightly.’ He is dazzlingly confident in almost all aspects of his life and especially when it comes to his military service- ‘For since these arms of mine had seven years’ pith†¦ they have used their dearest action in the tented field’. He proves to be a powerful presence in areas where others would crumble and is passionate about his love for Desdemona, so much so that he is resilient enough to offer everything in order to sustain their love- ‘let your sentence even fall upon my life.’ This shows great strength in character and Othello obviously sees himself as a force to be considered with. At this stage in the play, Othello views himself as never having been a happier due to his love for Desdemona- ‘If it were now to die, ’twere now to be most happy’ and makes a series of prophetically ironic statements, almost unknowingly hinting to the readers of what is to come- ‘But I do love thee; and when I love thee not, chaos is come again.’ The strength in character that we see from Othello throughout the beginning of the play is last seen in a conversation between him and Iago, concerning the infidelity of Desdemona. In his speech, we see Othello at his final point of rational sanity, which unfortunately due to Iago’s manipulative skills, he is unable to keep up throughout the entirety of the play: ‘No, Iago, I’ll see her before I doubt; when I doubt, prove; And on the proof, there is no more but this: Away all at once with love or jealousy!’ After this point in the play, Othello’s view of himself slowly deteriorates. He begins to lose his self-confidence and control as doubt gradually overwhelms his mind. As the jealously sets into his mind, he begins to search for reasons as to why his wife could do such a thing and comes up with two points; his age and his colour- ‘Haply for I am black’, ‘I am declined into the vale of years’. Whereas before he would have stood by Desdemona and perhaps asked for the proof from Iago against his wife’s infidelity, his troubled character now begs Iago to prove the exact opposite- ‘be sure thou prove my love a whore’. His mistrust in Desdemona proves that he is ultimately a poor judge of character, and instead holds his certainty in ‘Honest Iago’. This reliance on Iago to help him judge Desdemona’s true situation in fact becomes his down fall. His self-confidence has travelled from such a high to a low that he sees himself as no longer able to make conscious decisions alone. Othello’s character almost completely morphs into that of Iago, both using extremely similar language and animal imagery at the time of Othello’s extreme jealousy- ‘Goats and monkeys!’, ‘Or keep it as a cistern for foul toads to knot and gender in!’ This illustrates just how reliant on Iago Othello has become. He asks his opinion at almost every opportunity -‘How shall I murder him, Iago?’ This is a complete contrast from how the character was before his mind became jealous as he was before so sure of his each and every decision, so very self-assured. He now sees himself unfit to lead his life without constant supervision from his companion Iago. After being instructed, word-by-word, on how to unjustly murder his beloved Desdemona, Othello commits the terrible deed. Through this scene it is clearly illustrated that Othello has completely lost him mind, and in the words of Iago -‘He is much changed.’ He constantly contradicts himself, showing that he is no longer sure of what he is doing and sees only one way to regain his controlled mind- ‘A murder, which I thought a sacrifice.’ After killing his wife, Othello shows no remorse as he feels that he, himself, has rid the world of an unfaithful being- ‘She’s like a liar gone to burning hell: ‘Twas I that killed her.’ In this way he seems almost proud of his act, but yet still in pieces from losing not only his mind, but in addition, his love. The final stage in Othello’s personality transformation sees him return almost to his former self- a controlled man, but this time with a huge sense of guilt and despair laid upon his heart. He now sees himself as a monster, and begs for punishment’ ‘Whip me†¦ Roast me in sulphur!’ In a desperate effort to regain control in the situation, we see Othello commit an act that would fit with his former character, he stabs himself. This shows that Othello now thinks so badly of himself that he claims happiness will be found in death- ‘For in my sense ’tis happiness to die.’ We see Othello in his final speech attempt to reclaim any respect and decency from his characters, and asks them to remember him as one that ‘loved not wisely, but too well’ and a man that was -‘not easily jealous but, being wrought, perplexed in the extreme’. This shows that Othello has regained control over the final moments of his life and hopes to be remembered not for the tragic deeds he has committed but for his decencies and military service. He views himself as an unfairly mislead man, that inevitably forged his own fate. In conclusion, Othello as a character is not only a controversial, but also travels on such a journey through personalities that he is able to change the opinions of those who once looked up to him. The troubled, aggressive and broken Othello we see at the end of play is a shadow of his former self and proves just how each and every person has strengths and weaknesses that can be carefully manipulated. The real Othello that we see at the beginning of the play is one that can never be regained once jealousy has set in, and this is clearly shown by the tragic ending to the play. Othello tragically saw himself as a strong character, but was eventually shown to be a gullible fool at the hands of the evil manipulative Iago.