William J. Bruns

William J. Bruns

Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus

Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus

+1 (617) 495-6756
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William J. Bruns
Contact Information
(617) 495-6756
Publications Research Summary

Books
Books

Journal Articles
Journal Articles

Book Chapters
Book Chapters

  • Bruns, W. J., Jr., and S. M. McKinnon. "Performance Evaluation and Managers' Description of Tasks and Activities." In Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives, edited by William J. Bruns. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1992. View Details

Cases and Teaching Materials
Cases and Teaching Materials

All Publications
William J. Bruns, Jr. is the Henry R. Byers Professor of Business Administration, Emeritus, a graduate of the University of Redlands, William J. "Bill" Bruns also earned degrees at Harvard (M.B.A.) and the University of California at Berkeley (Ph.D.). In 1976 the University of Redlands awarded him the degree Doctor of Business Administration (honorary). Previously, Professor Bruns held appointments on the faculties of Yale University and the University of Washington. On retirement he taught eleven years as a Visiting Professor of Business Administration at Northeastern. 

Professor Bruns has extensive experience in executive education programs and has taught in the Advanced Management Program, the Owner/President Managers Program, the International Senior Managers Program, and the Program for Management Development at the Harvard Business School. He is author of Accounting for Managers: Text and Cases (South-WesternPublishing Co., 1994; Second Edition, 1999; Third Edition, 2005); Performance Measurement, Evaluation, and Incentives (Harvard Business School Press, 1992); co-author (with Sharon M. McKinnon) of The Information Mosaic (Harvard Business School Press, 1992); (with Robert S. Kaplan) of Accounting and Management: Field Study Perspectives (Harvard Business School Press, 1987); (with M. Edgar Barrett) of Case Problems in Management Accounting (R.D. Irwin, 1982 and 1985); and (with Richard F. Vancil) A Primer on Replacement Cost Accounting (Thomas Horton and Daughters, 1976). He is also author of Introduction to Accounting: Economic Measurement for Decisions (Addison-Wesley Publishing Co., 1971); Accounting for Decisions: A Business Game (Macmillan Co.,1966); and co-editor (with Don T. DeCoster) of Accounting and Its Behavioral Implications (McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1969).

Professor Bruns is married, with four adult sons (two of whom head their own businesses) and a daughter, Stacy (Anastasia), adopted in 1999.

Books
Journal Articles
Book Chapters
  • Bruns, W. J., Jr., and S. M. McKinnon. "Performance Evaluation and Managers' Description of Tasks and Activities." In Performance Measurement, Evaluation and Incentives, edited by William J. Bruns. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press, 1992. View Details
Cases and Teaching Materials
Research Summary
Managers' Use of Information
William J. Bruns, Jr. is studying (with Sharon M. McKinnon of Northeastern University) managers' use of information in day-to-day and long-term management situations. The findings of this research-that managers develop and rely more heavily on personal information systems involving direct observation, relationships, and frequent contacts both within and outside their firms than on formal systems supported by elaborate technology-contrast sharply with the beliefs of many systems designers and traditional information providers. Bruns' research suggests that information systems designs should consider physical location, available communications channels and tools, measurement metrics, and frequency of information updates. Bruns is currently extending his work from the discovery stage to the development of parameters for system design and a search for organizations that have used such parameters in systems that have satisfied managers' information needs.
Management Control Issues of International Ventures
William J. Bruns, Jr. is conducting (with Sharon M. McKinnon of Northeastern University) a field study of control issues that arise in international ventures between U.S. and European companies. Bruns' research is aimed at answering questions raised by earlier studies of the strategic, managerial, and organizational aspects of international ventures. In particular, Bruns hopes to distinguish the accounting and control mechanisms-objective setting, budgeting, and performance measurement-associated with international ventures that succeed from those employed by ventures that disappoint or fail. A series of cases to be developed on the management of international ventures will form the basis for a new elective course for the MBA program and a module for executive programs.

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