Alan Johnston

Qualifications: DBA | MA | PG Cert | Cert. Ed. | BA(Hons) | FHEA | MCMI

I am a Senior Lecturer in Management and Organisational Development at York Business School.

I completed my DBA at the University of Huddersfield in 2021 with a thesis titled 'Academics and the Psychological Contract: The formation and manifestation of the Psychological Contract within the academic role'. Before this, I graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a BA(Hons) in Economics with Accounting, before completing a PgCert in Education Management (University of Liverpool), Certificate in Education (University of Central Lancashire) and MA in Professional Development (University of Huddersfield).

I have over thirty years of experience teaching and managing within the Higher Education and Further Education Sectors, previously working at Liverpool John Moores University, Liverpool Hope University, Edge Hill University, and the University of Chester, as well as four Further Education Colleges (York College, Warrington Collegiate, Hugh Baird College and Wigan & Leigh College).

I have held strategic and operational responsibility for large teams of staff and substantial budgets within two Further Education Colleges. I am experienced in human resource development, performance management, recruitment and selection, and manpower planning. I have previously held Subject Director and Head of Programme posts within York Business School, and have had responsibility for partnership development and management with several of our overseas partners.

At present, I primarily teach on the Chartered Manager Degree Apprentice programme developing the managers of now and the future. I also supervise several Postgraduate Research students undertaking their doctorates.

I have a broad spectrum of teaching experience across a range of disciplines. I mainly focus my teaching on HR, Management and Leadership based modules.

At present, I am Module Director for Dissecting Work and Organisational Psychology (Year 3 full time undergraduate) and Organisations in Context, People in Organisations, Personal and Professional Development and Work Based Learning 2 on our Chartered Manager Degree Apprenticeship. I also lead the delivery of the Research Methods component of the Management Report, and teach on the Manging Human Rseources module.

I have previously taught across a range of modules at several HEIs and FECs and undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and have taught on a range of professional management and bespoke programmes.

I have extensive experience of supervising dissertations at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

Recently, I have been teaching across modules such as:

• Employee Resourcing for Effective Organisations - Level 5 - BA(Hons) Human Resource Management
• Developing Talent in Organisations - Level 5 - BA(Hons) Human Resource Management
• Managing Organisational Development and Design - Level 6 - BA(Hons) Human Resource Management
• Managing Employee Performance and Reward in a Competitive Environment - MSc Human Resource Management
• Employment Relations in the Contemporary Organisation - MSc Human Resource Management
• Managing Learning and Development - MSc Human Resource Management
• Perspectives on People Management - - MSc Leadership and Management

I am Co-Chair of the People in Employment Settings (PiES) Research Group and a member of the Higher Education Research Group (HERG).
My area of research interest focuses on people's behaviour. I am very keen to investigate (and to help others to understand) why people behave as they do in their workplace setting. A key area of this is appreciated through the lens of the psychological contract.

At present, I am focusing on applying ideas to educational settings and investigating academic staff's behaviour as semi-autonomous professionals. Other areas of interest include student motivation and approaches to learning, pedagogical approaches, scholarship development, and organisational change and development.

Research student supervision

I would welcome enquiries from potential research students working on Human Resource Management or Development; Organisational Development; Learning / Training and Development, and from the broad areas of Leadership and People Management.

Current PGR supervision

• The Impact of Leadership Psychological Capital within Further Education Culture. (Lead Supervisor)
• Learning is Jazz in the Classroom. (Lead Supervisor)
• An investigation into the objectivity illusion bias in discrimination, harassment and misconduct workplace investigations (Lead Supervisor)
• Evaluating environmental claim transparency throughout the lifecycle of green bonds: how trustworthy is the green is the green system? (Co-Supervisor)
• Physical non-fungible tokens (PNFTs) and their status as objects of value: A socio-historical analysis of ‘objects of value’ and ethnographic case study of Stoffeli® information distillates (Co-Supervisor)

Other esteem

I have been shortlisted for the Alan Moon (Best Paper) Prize at the UFHRD Annual International Conference, on two occasions:

• Johnston, A. (2023) Academic citizenship through the lens of the Psychological Contract. University Forum for Human Resource Development Annual Conference. Dublin, 7-9 June 2023
• Johnston, A. (2019) The impact of the psychological contract on academics’ discretionary effort. University Forum for Human Resource Development. Nottingham, 24-26 June 2019

In partnership with a colleague, I have been commissioned to write a book on Insider and Practitioner Research by Routledge

Grants/funding

• Awarded £1000 (UFHRD Research Honoraria – external) Two heads are better than one: Evaluating a dual approach to supporting degree apprentices in Higher Education with academic tutors and work-based tutors. – 2025/26
• Awarded £1000 (UFHRD Research Honoraria – external) The impact of gender and perceived social status on career trajectories within academic careers. – 2025/26
• Awarded £5,100 (QR funding – internal) Good Experience project research to inform the development of a Communication Charter, and its evaluation on behalf of Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board. – 2024/25
• Awarded £500 (Student as Researcher – internal) for the project ‘The impact of gender and perceived social status on career trajectories within academic careers’ – 2023/24
• Awarded £2900 (Cross School Grant Primer Fund) for the theme ‘Disciplinary spaces in higher education, student identity and sense of belonging’ – 2023/24

Projects

Currently leading a Good Experience project research team to inform the development of a Communication Charter, and its evaluation on behalf of Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board.

Recent publications

Journal activities

I am the Associate Editor for 3 journals

• International Journal of HRD: Practice Policy and Research
• Journal of Further and Higher Education
• International Journal of Organization Theory and Behavior
• Cogent Business and Management (HRM Section)

I am also Lead Guest Editor for a Special Issue of the International Journal of Human Resource Development: Practice, Policy and Research due for publication in late Autumn 2025 and a Special Issue of the Journal of Further and Higher Education due for publication in Autumn 2026.

I am a member of the Editorial Board for the American Journal of Management Science and Engineering and Current Human Resources and a member of the Early Career Review Board for the Leadership and Organizational Development Journal

I also review for several other journals including

• Education + Training
• Management Teaching Review
• Management in Education
• Industrial and Commercial Training
• Studies in Higher Education
• International Journal of Management Education
• Management Research Review
• Journal of Management Development

And have reviewed for International Conferences including

• British Academy of Management Conference
• Organisational Psychology Track papers – 2014, 2015 and 2016
• Leadership & Leadership Development Track papers – 2012 and 2014
• Academy of Human Resource Development Conference 2014, 2015 and 2016
• British Education Leadership Management and Administration Society Conference 2022, 2023 and 2024, 2025.

Academic/professional bodies

I hold membership in a number of professional bodies related to academia and professional practice, which I incorporate into the curriculum.

• British Academy of Management (BAM) – Member
• British Education Leadership Management and Administration Society (BELMAS) – Member
• Chartered Management Institute (CMI) – Member (MCMI)
• Higher Education Academy (HEA) – Senior Fellow (SFHEA)
• University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD) – University Representative

I am currently a member of the Research Development Committee of the UFHRD. My role within this committee includes representation on the International Journal of Human Resource Development: Practice, Policy and Research. Board of Directors. I am formerly (2017-2022) the Chair of the Education and Learning Committee of the University Forum for Human Resource Development (UFHRD).

I am a member of the BELMAS Bursaries and Grants Awarding Committee responsible for the awards of Doctoral Bursaries and the Leadership and Practitioner Bursaries.

Alongside this, I am Co-convenor of the Post 16: Education Leadership and Management Research Group within BELMAS

I am also formerly (2016-2019) a member of the Regional Board (North East, Yorkshire and Humberside) of the Chartered Management Institute (CMI). In this role, I sought to influence management and leadership development across the region to help improve business performance and operational effectiveness and efficiency in local, regional, national and international organisations.

External examining and quality assurance

I currently undertake external examining at two institutions within the UK. I have previously also been an external examiner at a number of UK institutions and one overseas in Gibraltar and have been the external panel member at the validation of awards of a number of UK Universities including collaborative provision with international partners.

External organisations and consultancy

I am currently working with the Integrated Care Board of North Yorkshire and Humber to improve communication systems. I have worked with Humberside Police in their implementation of the PEQ, and I have previously worked in conjunction with a range of employers and employer groups including York NHS Hospital Trust, the National Skills Academy for Financial Services, Warrington Borough Council, Warrington Chamber of Commerce, and the OMEGA Development Group. I have worked with a local Business start-up (Brewery) and was part of the organising committee of a local beer festival (Coptoberfest).