Oil and Petroleum industry in UK Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Oil and Petroleum industry in UK - Essay Example However, there are industries, like the oil and petroleum industry, which have managed to keep their competitiveness and remain intact from global market pressures. Current paper focuses on the oil and petroleum industry of the UK. The specific industry is considered as highly profitable, as analysed further below. Still, the industry has been related to anti-competitive behaviour, supporting the development of oligopolies. The characteristics and the competitive behaviour of the above industry are explored in this paper. Emphasis is given on the industry’s potentials to control anti-competitive behaviour and promote the equal development of its members. 2. Oil and Petroleum industry in UK 2.1 Current supply and demand conditions The oil and petroleum industry of UK is highly developed, a fact related to the country’s high efficiency in terms of oil and gas. Indeed, it has been proved that a percentage of 99% of oil and gas produced in UK is extracted from ‘the se abed surrounding the country’ (Oil & Gas UK 2012). The producing fields of the oil and petroleum industry of UK have been estimated to 383 (Oil & Gas 2012). ... For example, the country’s oil and gas production of 2009 reached high levels, covering ‘the two-thirds of the local energy needs’ (Department of Energy and Climate Change 2012). The particular industry also supports that UK economy; the contribution of the industry in the UK economy has been estimated to ‘an average of ?8 billion annually’ (Department of Energy and Climate Change 2012). In the context of the global market, the performance of the oil and petroleum industry of UK can be characterized as quite satisfactory, leading to the classification of UK as one of the most powerful oil and gas producers worldwide. Indeed, ‘in 2008 UK ranked 14th’ (Department of Energy and Climate Change 2012) in terms of its oil and gas production. It should be noted that the industry’s key firms have been estimated to 30 (see Table 1, Appendix); however, among these only 3 are those that share the key part of the oil and petroleum industry of U K (see those firms highlighted in Table 1, Appendix). 2.2 Collusive behaviour in the industry Collusive behaviour reflects the use of practices that are opposed to market ethics or to the law. In the oil and petroleum industry of UK such practices may have occurred but have not clearly reported or identified. However, there are signs that indicate the existence of such practices. For example, in a report published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change of UK (2012) it is explained that the production of oil in UK has reached up to now ‘the 40 billion barrels even if the potential for 20 more billion barrels existed’ (Department of Energy and Climate Change UK 2012).

Green Peace Essay Example for Free

Green Peace Essay Green Peace This campaign often focuses on McDonalds as an industry leader promoting business practices detrimental to the environment, destruction of tropical rainforests  INFLUENCE:  Pressure groups get the media involved which cause attention to grow on McDonalds in a negative way; this can mean that McDonalds lose customers as they dont want to be involved with an organisation that causes a bad reputation towards McDonalds. McDonalds attempts to fulfil expectations of pressure groups such as animal rights by buying meat from animals that are not slaughtered etc. but it is impossible for them to keep pressure groups happy all of the time. Pressure groups influence the business by checking at the store very often, doing customer surveys. They have the power to ruin the reputation worldwide if something is off beam. Pressure groups can take immediate direct action to get their point across. This is unhealthy for McDonalds as this draws media attention and public attention to the groups cause. This would mean that potential customers may decide that they do not want to buy McDonald goods due to a poor reputation. McDonalds have many schemes in place to please shareholders such as sticking to government rules and regulations or meeting the needs of the consumers. For example when people blamed McDonalds a cause for obesity levels and complained that there are not enough healthy choices, McDonalds came up with initiative ideas for a more healthier choices and a cut down in fat levels. This shows how they are a big influence to McDonalds; they can easily put the reputation of McDonalds down. Also competitors like Burger King tell income tax officer to check making trouble for the business. McDonalds have a constant battle with pressure groups and aim to keep them happy as they do not want the negative publicity. However as there are so many pressure groups it is impossible to keep everyone happy.  Evaluation:  After investigating the different stakeholders at McDonalds in thorough detail I can establish that the most powerful stakeholders are customers, franchisees and suppliers. This is because they have great buying power if they are dissatisfied with the level of quality at McDonalds they can easily take their custom elsewhere. Franchisees are powerful in the UK as all of McDonalds restaurant are either company owned (where the manager runs the restaurant) or franchised (turn over). McDonalds have great trust in the franchisee to operate restaurants successfully and keep their reputation high and clean. Suppliers are important stakeholders because they need McDonalds as much as McDonalds needs them. By working in a team they can meet each others needs. After recognising the most important stakeholder I can clearly declare that all stakeholders are important. Each stakeholder has different needs, McDonalds try and find a compromise with these needs and put effort to fulfil all their interests. However it is impossible to do so therefore conflicts can occur like I have discussed earlier. Bibliography: All information that I have, has been gathered through different research through the internet for example www.mcdonalds.com and also www.bized.ac.uk and a selection of books. I have gained some information through the trip made to McDonalds; I have gained knowledge about McDonalds in further detail by the interview made at the trip.

Recruitment Methods Used In Modern Times Commerce Essay

Recruitment Methods Used In Modern Times Commerce Essay Recruitment can be carried out in numerous ways and generally it happens via both formal and informal processes. An informal process depends on the contacts of active workers or on new applicant. Since they threat being biased, word -of -mouth recruitment is not often suitable in public sector. Within business sector, word of mouth recruitment is well known, especially in those societies rated more socialist by Hofstede. International differences in the exercise of informal are considerable. It is also common all over the globe and especially in the developing nations like as Bangladesh, Nepal, Uganda, Bhutan etc. Recruitment of Friends and Family is very easy and cheap as usually. According to Brewster et al (2008), there are four methods of particular relevance to International Human Resource management. Multinational companies follow these methods and recruiting, selecting, employing employees globally.Every recruitment process has some advantages and disadvantages. 1. Headhunting: In this method, recruitment agencies are work as service provider and they supply companies with recruits to put via their own selection procedures. This process is most common for managerial positions in developed countries like as USA, UK etc. Anecdotal data shows that almost 50% of executive searches are now cross-border. The global capability, geographical spread of individual search firms has consequently become difficult. The recruitment agencies may be preferred to internal solutions for many reasons and those reasons given below. a) The recruitment agencies have the specialist nature of recruitment activities. Similarly, its potentially rare use, sometimes mean that almost competent way to start it is to subcontract and it is to expert providers. b) Sometimes multinational companies would like to recruit in a country for the first time where they may not have human resource department to carry on this activity and simultaneously, they may not have local idea that would be essential. For this reason, they take help from the recruitment agencies. c) The recruitment agencies are expert in this section and can do recruitment of higher level or higher skill; employees may take place from a proper prospective employees file. The recruitment agencies operate their activities all over the country or industry. They usually have a list and this is mainly true in the case of multinational companies recruiting in a country where first time. Headhunters is particularly form of recruitment and agencies can be expected to charge a considerable payment for their services. b)Cross national Advertising: Now world is a global village and as part of globalisation, labour migration is more common and accepted all over the world. At present many companies seek to carry out cross border when they recruiting senior staffs. Brewster et al (2008) mentioned that the rising apply of advertising such as targeted outdoor poster sites -airport lounges, airline magazines and journey to work routes. Simultaneously, international, publications like as The Economist magazines, The wall street journals regularly represents some advertisement for high level posts in many organisations all over the world. Although that advertising should consider cultural differences, it may well be the case that the valuable targeting of such advertisement ensures that they are seen more or less totally by people. They are more used to, and accepting of, these multi-cultural messages. c) Internet Recruitment: Today internet is an important source of job and used to cheaply mass market the recruitment messages that organisations interested to forward potential applicants. The electronic recruiting facility is re-shaping the job hunting process and this facility has the likely to cut the difficulty to employment on a worldwide scale. It is proving helpful for global graduate recruitment, attracting MBAs and post graduate level candidates, similarly specific roles such as accounting professionals and IT staff. Brewster et al (2008) mentions some reasons for its popularity in recruitment. 1. Widen recruitment sourcing at relatively low cost a) Fixed cost of designing a website have been incurred, the marginal cost of further website visitor is mostly zero. b) At present internet user has grown highly, not only developed countries but also third world countries .So, now internet allows to firms reach potential applicants anywhere in the globe. c) Similarly, now it is very easy for potential employees to apply for any kind of job and first stage is to fill a web form or email a copy of CV. The main disadvantage of this is that the cheapness of applying by internet sometimes may encourage not only proper applicant but also large amount of unsuitable applicants too. 2. Attract applicant on a more specialised skill match. 3Target sources of graduate like as MBA career centres. 4. Improve on traditional advertising approaches by targeting particular life style or culture fit groups. Selection Methods: The most common forms of selection methods are given below. Interviews: The way in which interviews are continued are one factor of national culture which radically impact the conduct of the interview and cultural awareness is very essential in this respect. In a simple face to face interview, the assessors may be confronted by considerable problem. As for example can mention here that one American multinational company recruiting managers in South Korea and found that interviewers had to be trained in multicultural awareness. According to the cultural rule of Korea, when asked a good question, to keep silent is known as sign of respect and similarly the better the question ,the longer period of silence the applicant maintains.Moreover,according to the American culture, if anybody ask a good question and receive silence, it is like as ignorance. Not only that face to face interview may produce fairly warped judgements. 2.The monitoring and targeting of disadvantaged groups: In most countries negative discrimination against the interests of at least some disadvantaged group is not legal; similarly a small number of countries positive discrimination in support of interests of disadvantaged may be allowed or encouraged. Staffing practices are stoutly influenced by norms and morals, not possible by the law. As for example, many European countries do ban discrimination on the basis of age, but the application of age restrictions varies considerably by country. It is not applicable in UK but common in Germany. 3. Assessment Centres: Assessment centres are regarded as one of the most strong and suitable selection techniques and it should be expected that they would be used to assess capability for global manager. The major points of assessment centres are help to client companies to determine which candidates are appropriate to be employed. In this sense they offer their customers level of selection capability the may not take home. Assessment centres tend to use different types of tools and these tools are situational interviews, work stimulations and role -playing etc.Some effort also face that units and the successful utilization of their set of tools requires there tools to be significant for the circumstance like as legislative, cultural economic etc, in which the recruitment is taking place. Thus there cannot be one size fits all approach and this causes extensive troubles for them. 4. Psychological testing: The strength of some psychometric testing process is also uncertain. Psychologists state that variability of across settings for the equal type of work and across different of jobs is small .This testing involves asking candidates to full psychometric tests to allow their potential employer to verify the sort of person they are. Psychometric is the field of study concerned with the theory and technique of educational and psychological measurement, which includes the measurement of knowledge, abilities, attitudes and personality traits. The field is primarily concerned with the construction and validation of measurement instruments, such as questionnaires, tests and personality assessments. Those who practice psychometric are known as psychometricians and although they may also be clinical psychologists, they are not obliged to be so and could instead be (for example) human resources or learning and development professionals. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychometrics In the hand of competent professionals psychometric tests present an at times positive nearby into the individual features of prospective employees; in the hands of inexpert they are little more than a hazard to the achievement of a company. The table below represents some indications of comparative use of these selection events in diverse countries in the hiring of an employee for a cleric positions. According to the table, 69.6% of Danish companies report that they use interviews, but a small number (5%) of French companies do it. Simultaneously, 43.7% of Spanish companies like psychometric tests, but only 0.9% German firm prefers it. The uses of Psychometric test and Assessment Centre differs from country to country. A German assessment centre would use much diverse equipment to assess much different stuff than would an assessment centre in Canada. (Table)

College Admissions Essay - Selling Your Disability :: College Admissions Essays

Selling Your Disability to the Admissions Office "My father was an alcoholic, and I did anything I could to stay away from home. I chose that college because it was the farthest away. But I hated it there, and didn't do very well. Then I began to worry that I'd flunk out and have to go home, and of course my grades just got worse." "My mother was a drug addict. She did everything a person might do to get money for drugs. Often we didn't have food in the house; if there wasn't money for both, drugs came first. I ran away when I was sixteen, and never even finished high school. They figured that out in my third year of college, and made me take an equivalency test." "When my girlfriend got pregnant, we decided to keep the baby. I had to work two jobs to support us, three during the summer. So my grades aren't so hot." "They found out I had bone cancer in my senior year of high school; I hurt my knee playing basketball, and it wouldn't heal. I've had six operations in six years, along with the chemotherapy. But it didn't interfere with my studies; what else could I do in the hospital anyway?" Each of these cases was presented to me by my clients in the last few years. These clients all had two important things in common. The first is that they overcame incredible obstacles which would have completely demoralized many other people. The second is that, in every single case, the client was embarrassed by these events, and wanted to hide them. "Why should I talk about my problems?" Let's step back into the admissions office for a minute. The faculty committee is reviewing the files of two applicants. Both have a 3.0 g.p.a. and a 155 LSAT score. They're the same age and race, and both went to local colleges. But one is in good health, while the other has suffered from a lifelong kidney disease. They only have one seat left. Which applicant should they admit? They could toss a coin. Or they could decide that, in some cosmic sense, the person with kidney disease "deserves" the seat. Now what if you're that person, but don't want to tell the law school about the kidney disease, because you don't want to sound like you're asking for favors?

HIV sexual risk behaviors and perception of risk among college students: implications for planning interventions Essay

Final Project Proposal Introduction                   Since its discovery in 1983, scientists have worked tirelessly on determining the origins and biological mechanisms of the HIV virus. The gravity of the HIV virus cannot be understated as approximately 25 million people have contracted HIV and developed AIDS since the discovery of the virus. During the progression of knowledge surrounding the virus, statistical analysis of HIV related data displays regional, socioeconomic, and racial inconsistencies regarding HIV infection. From a global perspective, the discrepancies in HIV prevalence between wealthy and low income countries are unsettling to say the least. For instance, Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for approximately 2/3 of 34 million individuals currently living with the HIV virus. Superficial analysis of such statistics might invite one to presume that African sexuality must account for this large discrepancy, however, to develop a complete and nuanced understanding of the epidemic, it is important to delve into the specifics of resource allocation, gender inequalities, and access to adequate medical care. Similarly, a superficial analysis of HIV statistics might cause one to believe HIV epidemic largely affects only middle and low income countries and need not be extensively discussed within developed nations. Such lines of thinking fail to address the fact that international connectivity through economics and travel make the HIV virus capable of permeating national borders.                   Due to the international risk posed by the virus, it is crucial that scientist and policy makers from high, medium, and low income countries make a collective attempt to understand the root causes of HIV infection discrepancies. By understanding inconsistencies in HIV infection, one is then able to appropriately address the issues he or she has identified. What is important to note is that approaches to specific issues exacerbating HIV infection discrepancies may have to be altered for respective communities. In the same way ,one must understand factors accounting for HIV infection inconsistencies, one must similarly note that the nuances of a given community will significantly impact the efficacy of a prevention mechanism. Although the nuances of a given community may differ, we propose that the majority of root causes associated with increased risk of HIV infection are maintained irrespective of national borders. For the purposes of our research, we ho pe to analog the potential factors leading to increased risk of infection within African communities as well as marginalized subpopulations within the United States, specifically on the Williams College Campus. For all intents and purposes, the research we conduct at Williams College cannot wholly reflect all college campus environments, however, we anticipate that our research will provide an analytical and informative way of understanding increased risk of marginalized subpopulations.                   To ensure an indebt analysis, we will be discussing the role of gender dynamics in increasing an individual’s risk to HIV infection. Specifically, we aim to observe whether there is a correlation to gendered sexuality and increased risk behaviors. Utilizing the piece written by Patrica McFadden, we have come to understand the correlation between sexuality and power, and how the lacking focus on female sexuality has consequently limited their power. Given the previous statement, one can then presume that the inflation of male sexuality has drastically altered the power dynamic between the two sexes. Our research at Williams College will highlight possible restrictions on female students may disallow them from protecting themselves. For instance, a female student may not feel comfortable insisting upon contraceptive, and this inability to insist upon contraceptive significantly increases her likeliness of infection. Within a setting such as Williams College, one might inquire how an individual would not insist upon protection given the literature surrounding the HIV virus. To answer this question, one has to acknowledge that stigma and cultural surveillance are powerful deterrents to women taking the sexual initiative. The cultural reinforcement of passive female sexuality, thus the de facto male sexuality is dominant. Since only the male sexuality is acknowledged as dominant, the male will be considered the actor who ultimately initiates and determines the details of the sexual encounter. A potentially interesting point of inquiry would be to get an understanding of to what extents females and males on the Williams campus relate to typified gender sexualities. Results                   The survey was generally short and involved three questions. The first question that we asked was in regards to how many students that people think are infected with HIV/AIDS on campus. The choices available to the respondents were â€Å"there is no HIV/AIDS on campus†, â€Å"1 to 3 students†, â€Å"4 to 10 students†, â€Å"10 to 30 students† and â€Å"30+†. According to the results of the survey , Black Men answered that there were more than 4 cases of HIV/AIDS on this campus. Among all the groups involved in the survey ¸ Black Women were the only group to answer that they believed that over 30 students were infected by HIV/AIDS. On their part, white women were of the idea that there were less than 10 HIV/AIDS cases on campus. Neither White Men nor White Women answered that there were over 10 cases of HIV/AIDS, and comparatively no Black Women or Black Men answered that there was no presence of HIV/AIDS on campus.                   The second question that we asked was, â€Å"whose responsibility it was to bring the condom to a sexual encounter;† the choices were â€Å"both have an equal responsibility,† â€Å"you,† â€Å"your partner† or â€Å"neither has a responsibility†. According to the results of the survey, White Men was the only group that responded that it was their responsibility to bring the condom to the sexual encounter. On their part, black women responded that it was the duty of their partner.all the respondents were more likely to answer the choices where they have some sort of control . Black Men and Black Women believed that it was the man’s responsibility to bring the condom, whereas both White Men and White Women answered that it was their own responsibility to bring the condoms.                   The third question that the respondents were asked during the survey was ,â€Å"whose responsibility is it to insist on condom use† and the answer choices were the same as the second questions’. The most popular response among both black and whites was,â€Å"both have responsibilities,†.However the genders did align but they were different from each other. Black Women and White Women answered only with the choices where they had control of insisting on condom use. Black Women were 23% more likely than Black Men to answer that it was their responsibility to insist on condom use and White Women were 9% more likely than White Men to answer that it was their responsibility. Black Men was the only group to answer that it was their partner’s responsibility to insist on condom use.                   The fourth question that was asked during the survey was, â€Å"if you and a partner you just met are engaging in sexual activity and they do not want to use a condom, what do you do?† The answer choices were â€Å"insist on condom use while still engaging in non-penetrative sexual activities†, â€Å"Start off insisting on condom use but eventually give in to having unprotected sex†, â€Å"Outright refusal to engage in any further sexual activity unless they agree to use a condom† or â€Å"Have sex without a condom, no protest†. Black Women was the only group to refuse sex outright if their partner did not agree to use a condom and in general. Although White Women were most likely to insist on condom use, a large proportion of them also answered that they would refuse outright. Black Women were 40.25% more likely to refuse outright than Black Men and White Women were only 11.5% more likely than White Men to refuse outri ght.                   The fifth question was similar to the fourth question, but unlike in the fourth question, all groups answered that they would engage in unprotected sex. However, the majority of Black Men and Women and White Women still insisted on condom use – 56%, 64% and 63% respectively. White Men were the only group whose majority chose to have unprotected sex at 63%. Black Women and White Women had very similar percentages for insisting on having protected sex. However, Black Women was more likely than White Women to engage in unprotected sex, with no protest ,while White Women was more likely to start off insisting on condom use and eventually give in.                   The sixth question asked about how strongly the respondent felt that they had control and could voice their opinion in a sexual encounter, and a Likert Scale was used (1= Strongly Disagree to 5= Strongly Agree) to gauge the responses. All races felt very strongly that they had control and could voice their opinion in a sexual encounter, but Black Men and Black Women were the only groups to answer with 3, which indicates a neutral feeling. A significantly larger proportion of Black Women than White Women, 11.6% more, answered with the highest choice of 5, which indicates strongly agree. References 1. Jozkowsk, Kristen  N., and Sonya  A. Satinsky. â€Å"A Gender Discrepancy Analysis of Heterosexual Sexual Behaviors in Two University Samples.†Ã‚  (2013): Web. This source provided us with a experimental study exploring the sexual activities on a college campus. We may use this source to model out own experiment on a smaller scale, and this experiment similarly allows us to analyze sexual behaviors on other college campuses which may mirror Williams college. 2. Adefuye AS, Abiona TC, Balogun JA, Lukobo Durrell M: †Ã‚  HIV sexual risk behaviors and perception of risk among college students: implications for planning interventions. BMC Public Health  2009,  9:281. This source allows us to again follow a experimental model tracing high risk behaviors on college campuses around the nation. In an ideal world, we will see possible trends that we can use to draw analytic conclusions about gender dynamics. Before we can address race and gender, however, it is important that we understand the types of behaviors we need to watch for within our own studies. Another positive aspect of the source is that it delves into racial dynamics of the HIV infection. 3. Mathes, Eugene W. â€Å"Why is there a Strong Positive Correlation between Perpetration and being a Victim of Sexual Coercion? an Exploratory Study.†Ã‚  Journal of Family Violence  28.8 (2013): 783-96.  ProQuest.  Web. 10 Nov. 2013. When we discuss gender dynamics, it will be important to outline sexual coercion which may expose students to high risk behaviors. 4. Ahmed, Aziza. â€Å"Feminism, Power, and Sex Work in the Context of HIV/AIDS: Consequences for Women’s Health.† Harvard Journal of Law and Gender. 34:1 (2011) This article provides background surrounding the stifled sexuality of women around the globe and how this stifling of sexuality robs women of their presence within the sexual landscape. Without sexual freedom, women are unable to excise their power, thus, they may not have the voice to protect themselves sexually. We aim to observe whether this restriction can be observed on the Williams campus. Source document

Characters are similar throughout books Essay

Henrik Ibsen’s characters are similar throughout his books. There are pairs of characters with similarities in A Doll’s House and Ghosts. One such pair is Nora and Mrs. Alving.  Both characters were unhappily married, but had other significant men in their lives. Manders and Dr. Rank both appeared as good friends to the women. This is a similarity, but with the difference that Nora rejected one and Mrs. Alving was rejected by the other. These men helped the women through their problems however and they would do anything for them. â€Å"To have loved you as much as any one else does? Was that horrid?† (A Doll’s House, Act II, p. 40) Dr. Rank tells Nora. He is expressing that he has loved her the whole time that she thought they were just best friends.  Mrs. Alving ran away from her husband in their first year of marriage and went to Manders. She had been in love with him, but he respected the sanctity of marriage so had to turn her away. â€Å"That I was able to turn you from your outrageous intention, and that it was vouchsafed to me to succeed in leading you back into the path of duty and back to your lawful husband.† (Ghosts, Act I, p. 89)  Nora and Mrs. Alving both have children that they love very much. Nora is talking to Mrs. Linde, an old friend, when she brings up the topic of her children, â€Å"So you are quite alone. How dreadfully sad that must be. I have three lovely children.† (A Doll’s House, Act I, p. 8) Nora often brings up the topic of her children when talking, because she loves them so much and wants to tell the whole world about them. Mrs. Alving loved her son Oswald so much that she sent him away, even though it would be very painful for her, so that he wouldn’t become like his father. â€Å"It was then that Oswald was sent away. He was about seven then, and was beginning to notice things and ask questions as children will†¦ It seemed to me that the child would be poisoned if he breathed the air of this polluted house. That was why I sent him away.† (Ghosts, Act I, p. 93) She rationalizes her decision. Mrs. Alving and Nora prove that they love their children through their actions in the plays, which are often similar.  As much as Ibsen deliberately made his characters similar, he also made what happens to them different. At the end of A Doll’s House, Nora ends being the victor. She leaves her husband because it is what she wants and she knows how to get it. â€Å"Oh, Torvald, I don’t believe any longer in wonderful things happening†¦ That our life together would be a real wedlock. Good-bye.† (A Doll’s House, Act III, p. 68) With this, she leaves her house and the man she was in a loveless marriage with. Mrs. Alving does not have the same fortune as Nora. At the end of Ghosts, her beloved son is left in a vegetative state and she is left to despair over it.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Oswald! What is the matter with you! Oswald! Oswald! Look at me! Don’t you know me!†¦ I can’t bear it! Never!† (Ghosts, Act III, p. 128) A main difference in Mrs. Alving and Nora’s attitudes is that Nora left her husband when she couldn’t take it any more and Mrs. Alving waited for hers to die.  Ã¢â‚¬Å"Listen, Torvald. I have heard that when a wife deserts her husband’s house, as I am doing now, he is legally freed from all obligations towards her.† (A Doll’s House, Act III, p. 67) Nora tells him. This shows that she is a stronger character than Mrs. Alving, because she actually stood up to her husband and told him that his behavior was unacceptable. â€Å"I had my little boy, and endured it for his sake†¦ I took the upper hand in the house absolutely – both with him and all the others. I had a weapon to use against him†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ghosts, Act I, p. 92-93) Mrs. Alving shows that she took the easy way out. She could have stood up to Mr. Alving and taken her son and left, but instead she chose to go along with it, just standing in his shadow and quietly telling him that she was unhappy. The similarities that come out in the characters of Mrs. Alving and Nora are always mixed in with other situations that make them different. Ibsen wanted to prove to his audience that it wasn’t always healthy to be in a marriage and by doing this he went against the norms of society. Neither play has a so-called ‘happy ending’, because not all the characters have had their issues resolved by the end. The two plays show the different angles that he wanted the audience to be aware of, but their endings repeat a point for clarity.