Dr Richard Bruce
PhD, MBA, FRSA, FCILT
Management School
Lecturer in Supply Chain & Accounting and Finance
Programme Director for International Business Management
Lecturer in Management and Supply Chain Accounting
Chief Business Advisor to the University’s Grantham Centre for Sustainable Futures
+44 114 222 2723
Full contact details
Management School
Sheffield University Management School
Conduit Road
Sheffield
S10 1FL
- Profile
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Richard has been with the University of Sheffield since 2012. He is part of the Accounting & Financial Management (AFM) section of the Management School, teaching and researching aspects of Management Accounting to undergraduate and post-graduate students, and am module leader to two undergrad modules and two master’s level modules. Within AFM, Richard is the team leader for MAR@S (Management Accounting Research at Sheffield), a subset of CRAFiC – the Centre for Research in Accounting and Finance in Context.
He supervises two PhD students: Matthew Hinchliffe – a 2nd year student studying Digitisation and Blockchain applications to open book accounting on the 4 year A* scheme with SimTech in Singapore; and Furqan Asad Suhail – also a 2nd year student studying the Translation of SDGs at the organisational level. Richard also supervises MSc and MBA dissertations, with a focus on those that have company involvements.
His role in the Grantham Centre focuses on external relations with business and industry. He is also the convenor and secretary of the Grantham Ambassadors, whose members include senior colleagues from industry, research and professional services across a wide range of sectors, from around the world. Part of his work in the Grantham Centre is to provide support and guidance to the Grantham Scholars. He also manages the ECR research stimulation programme known as the Grantham Centre GO Fund.
His career commenced as a fast track civil servant in the Department of the Environment, which involved – inter alia – with harmonisation of UK environmental legislation post accession to the EEC, then following a full-time MBA at the University of Sheffield in 1989-1990 he spent six years at Harper Adams University, establishing the DTI funded Enterprise Unit and teaching strategic management and statistics to final year degree students. He then worked in global consultancy on strategic issues relating to major fmcg and agri-food suppliers and their multiple retailer customers; a role that required a significant level of interfacing with governmental and industry bodies.
- Research interests
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Richard’s research interests include:
- the application of accounting techniques and digital applications, such as Blockchain, to enhance supply chain efficiencies and reduce costs, and the effect of such applications on trust levels in inter-organisational relationships;
- environmental and sustainable accounting, including analytic techniques such as materiality.
- Publications
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Journal articles
- Vanishing value chains, industrial districts and HRM in the Brazilian automotive industry. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(2), 254-271. View this article in WRRO
- Food chain inefficiency (FCI) : accounting conversion efficiencies across entire food supply chains to re-define food loss and waste. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 3. View this article in WRRO
- An agenda for integrated system-wide interdisciplinary agri-food research. Food Security, 9(2), 195-210. View this article in WRRO
- The environmental impact of fertilizer embodied in a wheat-to-bread supply chain. Nature Plants, 3. View this article in WRRO
- The Future Information Needs of Rural Practice Chartered Surveyors; a means to competitive advantage?. Harper Adams Enterprises, 1-21.
- Vanishing value chains, industrial districts and HRM in the Brazilian automotive industry. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 31(2), 254-271. View this article in WRRO
- Research group
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Centre for Research into Accounting and Finance in Context (CRAFiC)
Current and Recent Research Projects
UKRI HEIF Knowledge Exchange Funded project on the use of digitised systems to enhance traceability and transparency for cacao production in Vietnam, leading to a net economic benefit for farmers.
PI of a major commercial research project to investigate the production of a more sustainable loaf of bread.
Co-Chair of an EPSRC Proof-of-Concept study on single use agri-plastics.
Co-investigator of ‘Many Happy Returns’ a substantial NERC funded project on plastics reuse.
Scoping study examining reuse or recycling solution s for waste leather scraps for a shoe manufacturer.
Evaluating the sustainability strategy developed for a business wishing to go the market with an IPO.
- Outside work
Richard is an active Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, and the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport, the latter being one of the accreditation bodies for the Logistics and Supply Chain Management MSc.
He loves walking in the Peak District, and with his wife Christine, arranges walks with students to show them the beautiful countryside adjacent to Sheffield. An avid reader, he also enjoys opera and good food.
Voluntary work has always been a part of his life: he was a Special Constable in the Metropolitan Police during the IRA bombing campaign in London, then spent over 20 years involved in Scouting, initially as a Beaver Leader and finishing his Scouting career as the Team Leader for the annual National Scout Service held in Windsor Castle. His most recent role was that of a volunteer emergency service motorcyclist for the NHS.