JOURNAL OF LEADERSHIP, ACCOUNTABILITY AND ETHICS
How Sweet It Is: Sugar Consumption and its Implications for Human Resource Management and the Work-Life Divide
Author(s): Gareth Craze
Citation: Gareth Craze,(2018) "How Sweet It Is: Sugar Consumption and its Implications for Human Resource Management and the Work-Life Divide," Journal of Leadership, Accountability and Ethics, Vol. 15, Iss.2, pp 10-21
Article Type: Research paper
Publisher: North American Business Press
Abstract:
Consumption of refined sugar in modern diets has been identified as a source of many modern illnesses, including emotional and mood disorders. Furthermore, workplace "cake culture" within organizations has institutionalized and ritualized the consumption of sugar. I outline the effect that sugar consumption has on stress, fatigue and mood, and propose that these effects will have deleterious consequences on individual-level health and wellbeing in organizations. I further propose that social contagion has a mediating effect on these interactions. Implications for human resource management (HRM) and the work-life divide are then discussed. The paper concludes with future research directions for scholars.