Abstract
Efforts to implement risk management in the public sector have principally relied on emulating private sector practices, with a recent focus on implementing enterprise risk management (ERM). However, there is limited evidence of this largely private enterprise approach being successfully transferred to public sector settings. This paper helps address this deficit by considering the practical matter of how risk management becomes 'embedded' in a public organisation which is viewed as a change initiative. The approach used in a case study of an Irish public sector organisation is outlined and this involved collective leadership and a facilitation tool to drive the successful embedding of risks; firstly, through training and ongoing support, and secondly by directing and empowering the senior management team to prioritise risks requiring action. The paper concludes with observations on the key role of leadership in such an initiative which leads to several hypotheses for future research.