Operationalising Sustainability Through Workload and Capacity Governance: A Management Control Perspective from Public Higher Education

Translating sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) commitments into operational management practices remains a challenge for organisations, including public higher education institutions. This study examines workload and capacity governance as an operational domain through which sustainability considerations can inform management-control decisions. Using a university enrolment process as an illustrative case, the mixed-method study combines process observation and time tracking, Business Process Modelling, semi-structured interviews, and P-Graph-based workload and capacity modelling. The model maximises completed enrolment cases subject to administrative capacity, processing-time requirements, process dependencies, and a 10–20% uncertainty range for case revisits. Three workload scenarios vary demand across 4400, 2200, and 1460 student cases. Results show declining completion rates as workload increases, with the paper-based second stage remaining particularly capacity-constrained. Interview evidence identifies workload concentration, rework, additional working time, and employee well-being concerns. The study contributes to sustainability-oriented management control research by showing how formal workload and capacity information can support resource allocation, capacity planning, and workload governance while connecting operational workload management with the social dimension of sustainability. The resulting case-derived framework provides a basis for examining these relationships in other administrative settings.