Management of Risk

Also known as: M_o_R

framework · project management · regulatory-standard

AXELOS risk management methodology providing principles, approach, processes, and techniques across organizational levels.

Management of Risk (M_o_R) is the AXELOS risk management methodology providing principles, an approach, processes, and techniques for risk management across organizational, programme, project, and operational levels. Originally developed by the UK Office of Government Commerce, the first edition was published in 2002 with subsequent editions in 2007 and a major fourth edition (M_o_R 4) in 2022 substantially restructured around principles and four-perspective application (strategic, programme, project, operational). M_o_R sits within the AXELOS Best Management Practice stack alongside PRINCE2 and MSP, providing the risk-management capability those project- and programme-management frameworks call for. Its scope extends beyond project risk to organizational risk management, distinguishing it from narrower project-risk frameworks like PMI's Practice Standard for Project Risk Management.

Originators

Office of Government Commerce (2002 first publication); AXELOS (2013-2021); PeopleCert (2021 onward) high

Year / Decade

2002 (first edition); 2007 (second); 2010 (third); 2022 (fourth edition current) high

Primary sources

AXELOS / PeopleCert (2022). Management of Risk: Guidance for Practitioners and the M_o_R 4 Practitioner Guidance, OGC (2002). Management of Risk: Guidance for Practitioners (first edition), Power, M. (2007). Organized Uncertainty: Designing a World of Risk Management high

Core components

M_o_R 4 principles: integrate, collaborate, embed, lead, communicate, balance and contextualise
Four-perspective application: strategic, programme, project, operational
Process steps (identify, assess, plan, implement)
Risk profile, risk register, risk progress reports as central management products
Risk appetite and risk tolerance articulation
Integration with PRINCE2 risk theme, MSP risk theme, and broader enterprise risk management
Specific techniques (Probability Impact Grid, Expected Monetary Value, Decision Trees, Sensitivity Analysis)

Primary use case

Risk management methodology for UK central and local government; international adoption in AXELOS-aligned jurisdictions and in financial services and large corporates; reference framework for risk management capability development in PMOs and risk functions; basis for M_o_R Foundation and Practitioner certifications; integration with COSO ERM, ISO 31000, and other enterprise-risk-management frameworks.

Common criticisms

M_o_R has been criticized along with risk management frameworks generally for process orientation that produces ceremonial compliance rather than substantive risk-management improvement — Power's 'Risk Management of Everything' (2004) and 'Organized Uncertainty' (2007) provide foundational scholarly critique applicable to M_o_R as a representative of the genre
UK government programme failures including MoD acquisition, NHS National Programme for IT, and welfare-reform programmes occurred under nominally M_o_R-compliant risk management, indicating framework adoption is not sufficient for risk-management effectiveness
the four-perspective structure added in M_o_R 4 (2022) improves on prior project-centric editions but operational-risk and strategic-risk applications remain less developed than the project-risk core
integration with COSO ERM and ISO 31000 is articulated but produces practitioner confusion about which framework applies when
commercial AXELOS / PeopleCert certification pricing is contested
risk-quantification techniques (EMV, decision trees) are presented at introductory level inadequate for serious quantitative risk analysis
behavioral and political dimensions of risk management are underweighted relative to process formalism.

Lineage

Siblings: PRINCE2, Managing Successful Programmes