Risk-MM-Georgia: Facilitating the effective risk management in the Georgian public sector

Risk management maturity models (RMMMs) have been increasingly integrated into public organizations to promote structured and proactive risk management. Several studies across different countries proposed frameworks to guide institutions in strengthening their practices. Despite these developments, a persistent imbalance between scientific rigor and practical applicability remains, leaving many public institutions with either complex models to implement or overly simplified frameworks that lack meaningful insights. This gap is particularly evident in the Georgian public sector, where adoption of a comprehensive risk management framework has been significantly delayed. The present study introduces Risk-MM-Georgia, a novel RMMM developed using the design science research (DSR) methodology. The model was applied to nine major public organizations and externally validated against Brazil’s PRisk-MM, a framework successfully implemented within the Brazilian public sector (de Lorena & Costa, 2023b). The analysis yielded consistent findings, with 77.78 percent of the organizations achieving the same maturity level under both models, thereby supporting the reliability of the proposed framework. Overall, Risk-MM-Georgia bridges theory and practice by providing step-by-step guidance for public institutions and demonstrating global relevance through cross-national benchmarking.