1340891
Professor Kim Johnston
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Advertising, Marketing & PR
Biography
Professor Kim A. Johnston (PhD; MBus; GradCertAcadPrac; BNursing; GenCertNursing) researches communication engagement, social impact, and strategic communication, particularly focusing on how organisations influence stakeholders in a range of community, corporate and government settings. Professor Johnston leads the Stakeholder Engagement Research Group. Her research focuses on community engagement for preparedness and resilience in disasters, the environment, social impact and social license to operate, with extended research interests in workplace communication (employee engagement). Professor Johnston teaches postgraduate and undergraduate public relations courses in community engagement, issues management, and corporate media strategy. She is on the editorial boards of leading international journals including Public Relations Review, the International Journal of Corporate Communication, and the US Institute of Public Relations PR Journal. She is also editor of the Handbook of Communication Engagement. Her research interests include:- Engagement - community and employee
- Social impact and social license to operate
- Internal or workplace communication
- Strategic and brand related communication
- Organisational culture and knowledge structures (as they relate to internal communication)
- Public relations theory
- Ethnography and qualitative methods.
- Communication engagement (community /stakeholder/employee engagement)
- Social Impact (and community)
- Internal /workplace communication
- 2023: Top Faculty Paper - International Communication Association (PR Division) - Li, L., Johnston, K.A & Feng, J. The Authenticity of Place: The Contribution of Engaged Virtual Brand Communities to National Branding.
- 2022: PRIA Researcher of the Year
- 2020: International Champion of Change Award (Community - Group) - Highly Commended - Inspector General Emergency Management Queensland
- 2018: USA National Communication Award (PR Division) PRIDE Book Award (Innovation, development and education) - awarded for the Handbook of Communication Engagement
- 2015: QUT Vice-Chancellor Performance Award - contribution to research culture
- 2012: QUT Outstanding Doctoral Thesis Award (2011)
- 2010: Vice-Chancellor Award for Excellence Nominee – Faculty Research Ethics Advisors Team
- 2006: QUT – Team Teaching Award – Faculty of Business
- 2004: QUT – Team Teaching Award – Commendation, Faculty of Business
- 2002: PRIA – State Awards for Excellence – Highly Commended – Issues / Crisis Management
- 2002: PRIA Golden Target Awards: Highly Commended – Issues/ Crisis Management
Personal details
Positions
- Professor
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Advertising, Marketing & PR
Keywords
Communication engagement, Employee engagement, Community engagement, Internal communication, Public relations, Qualitative, Strategic communication, Organizational culture, Ethnography
Research field
Communication and media studies, Strategy, management and organisational behaviour, Marketing
Field of Research code, Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC), 2020
Qualifications
- PhD (Queensland University of Technology)
- MBus(Comm) (Queensland University of Technology)
- BNur (Northern Territory University)
Professional memberships and associations
- FHEA - Fellow of the Higher Education Academy
- AFAMI CPM - Associate Fellow - Australian Marketing Institute and Certified Practising Marketer
- MICA - Member of the International Communication Association
Teaching
Teaching interests
- Community engagement
- Issues management
- Internal communication and change management
- Qualitative research methods.
Experience
Research Projects - Funded
- 2022 - 2024 - Discovery Grant - Enhancing and evaluating stakeholder engagement for improved water outcomes - with Professor Yongping Wei (UQ) and Professor Brian Head (UQ); Funded by ARC
- 2022 - Community Floods 2022 (NSW and QLD): Funded by Natural Hazards Research Australia
- 2021 - Community Awareness and Resilience Evaluation Framework: Brisbane Strategic Flood Plain Management - IGEMQ
- 2018 - 2019 - Community Engagement for Preparedness Study - Bushfire Natural Hazards CRC Tactical Research Fund
- 2016 - 2019 - Annual SEQ Waterways Community Engagement Study - (Annual Report Card Social Data) Healthy Land and Water
- 2017- 2018 - Public Sentiment Study Queensland Government
- 2016 - 2017 - Social Impact Study - Australian Meat Processor Corporation
- 2015 - Social Values and Use Study - Healthy Waterways Ltd
- 2015 - Reader engagement study - Gold Cross Pty Ltd
- 2013 - Employee engagement and internal communication - RACQ
Publications
Research outputs by year
- Taylor, M., Johnston, K. & Ryan, B. (2023). A Community Engagement Approach to Natural Hazard Communication. In WT. Coombs & SJ. Holladay (Eds.), The Handbook of Crisis Communication (pp. 327–342). John Wiley & Sons. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/228441
- Johnston, K., (2023). Theorizing Digital Engagement in Public Relations. In C. Botan & E. Sommerfeldt (Eds.), Public Relations Theory III: In the Age of Publics (pp. 38–57). Routledge. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/229606
- Hurst, B., Johnston, K. & Lane, A. (2023). A relational approach to social impact: Moving beyond instrumental and consumer approaches. Public Relations Review, 49(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236479
- Arif, S., Johnston, K., Lane, A. & Beatson, A. (2023). A strategic employee attribute scale: Mediating role of internal communication and employee engagement. Public Relations Review, 49(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/238793
- Kotsi, F., Johnston, K. & Pike, S. (2023). Stopovers as valued-based experience: A conceptual model. Annals of Tourism Research Empirical Insights, 4(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/236949
- Johnston, K., Taylor, M. & Ryan, B. (2022). Engaging communities to prepare for natural hazards: a conceptual model. Natural Hazards, 112(3), 2831–2851. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/228440
- Johnston, K. & Lane, A. (2021). Communication with intent: A typology of communicative interaction in engagement. Public Relations Review, 47(1). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/200921
- Hurst, B. & Johnston, K. (2021). The social imperative in public relations: Utilities of social impact, social license and engagement. Public Relations Review, 47(2). https://eprints.qut.edu.au/210222
- Johnston, K. & Lane, A. (2019). An authenticity matrix for community engagement. Public Relations Review, 45(4), 1–13. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/130765
- Johnston, K. & Taylor, M. (2018). The Handbook of Communication Engagement. Wiley-Blackwell. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/215461
QUT ePrints
For more publications by Kim, explore their research in QUT ePrints (our digital repository).
Awards
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Researcher of the Year - Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target Awards 2022
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- PRIDE Award for outstanding Innovation, Development, and Educational Achievement in Public Relations
- Type
- Appointment to Prestigious Positions
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Board Member - Appointed to Metro North Hospital and Health Service Board
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Appointed to the editorial board of Public Relations Review
- Type
- Editor/Contributor of a Prestigious Work of Reference
- Reference year
- 2017
- Details
- Editor - Handbook of Communication Engagement (Wiley) - 2018
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Editorial Board Member - Corporate Communications: An International Journal
- Type
- Academic Honours, Prestigious Awards or Prizes
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Performance Award for Research
- Type
- Editorial Role for an Academic Journal
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- Editorial Board Member Journal of Public Relations Research: 2012-2015
Selected research projects
- Title
- Enhancing and evaluating stakeholder engagement for improved water outcomes
- Primary fund type
- CAT 1 - Australian Competitive Grant
- Project ID
- DP220103054
- Start year
- 2022
- Keywords
Projects listed above are funded by Australian Competitive Grants. Projects funded from other sources are not listed due to confidentiality agreements.
Supervision
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
Completed supervisions (Masters by Research)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.