Revealing the desired corporate identity can also be undertaken in a more
pragmatic and less time-consuming way. This can be done with the help of the
Spiderweb method (Bernstein, 1986) (Figure 5). This is a qualitative technique,
based on a group discussion with top management, communication managers
and one or more representatives of the organization's business units. An external
consultant leads the discussion, stimulating participants to describe their
organization first in general terms (how do you describe your company at a
party?), followed by more specific descriptions to be summarized in individual
formulation of concrete characteristics of the company. This will result in a large
amount of attributes (on an average ten per person). During the next stage of the
Spiderweb method, participants have to choose, again individually, the eight
most important characteristics. The session is nearly completed when all
participants fill out a form rating the finally selected eight characteristics with a
school figure (from one to ten), regarding the actual (perceived) and the desired
corporate identity. The aggregated averaged group score will be presented in a
wheel with eight spokes, representing a ten point-scale, with the zero value in the
middle (centre) and the maximum ten value at the end of each spoke. This will
result in a representation of the ideal attributes of the corporate identity. Figure
5 shows the attributes as found recently in a Dutch company.