1340891
Professor Kim Johnston
Faculty of Business & Law,
School of Advertising, Marketing & PR
Biography
Professor Kim A. Johnston (PhD; MBus; GradCertAcadPrac; BNursing; GenCertNursing) is a leading researcher in communication engagement, social license and impact, and strategic communication. Her work explores relational and engagement processes between organisations and stakeholders across community, corporate, and government contexts.She leads the Stakeholder Engagement Research Group, where her research focuses on community engagement for disaster preparedness and resilience, environmental communication, social impact, and the social license to operate. She also investigates internal communication, including employee engagement and organisational culture.
Professor Johnston teaches undergraduate and postgraduate courses in strategic communication specialising in stakeholder engagement, issues and crisis management, and internal change communication.
She serves on the editorial boards of several 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 and 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.
- 2025: Vice-Chancellor's Award for Excellence - External partnership and engagement - Disaster Resilience Project for Multicultural Communities - Jenny Hou, Greg Hearn & Kim Johnston
- 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
- Stakeholder and community engagement
- Issues and crisis management
- Internal communication and change management
- Qualitative research methods.
Experience
Research Projects - Funded
- Aug 2022 - Aug 2026 - 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 W. Coombs & S. 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), Article 102264. 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), Article 102320. 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), Article 100084. 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), Article 101925. 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), Article 102039. 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).
Filter publications:
A complete list of publications is available at: https://www.qut.edu.au/about/our-people/academic-profiles/kim.johnston
Awards
- Type
- Award or Prize
- Reference year
- 2022
- Details
- Researcher of the Year - Public Relations Institute of Australia Golden Target Awards 2022
- Type
- Award or Prize
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- National Communication Association - PRIDE Award - to the Handbook of Communication Engagement. PRIDE Award for outstanding Innovation, Development, and Educational Achievement in Public Relations
- Type
- Editorial Role
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Editor - Handbook of Communication Engagement (Wiley) - 2018
- Type
- Editorial Role
- Reference year
- 2018
- Details
- Editorial Board Public Relations Review. Appointed to the editorial board of Public Relations Review
- Type
- Membership of board
- Reference year
- 2018-2021
- Details
- Board Member - Appointed to Metro North Hospital and Health Service Board, Queensland Health
- Type
- Editorial Role
- Reference year
- 2016
- Details
- Editorial Board Member - Corporate Communications: An International Journal
- Type
- University Prize including VC Award
- Reference year
- 2015
- Details
- QUT Vice Chancellor's Performance Award for Research
- Type
- Editorial Role
- Reference year
- 2012-2015
- Details
- Journal of Public Relations Research. 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
Current supervisions
- The Role of Internal Brand Communication in Pro-environmental Brand Value Congruence
PhD, Principal Supervisor
Other supervisors: Associate Professor Shane Mathews, Associate Professor Luca Casali
Completed supervisions (Doctorate)
The supervisions listed above are only a selection.