There are some proposals from different authors. It seems that the proposals depend from the point of view  of the authors. If authors write from the perspective of corporate consultants, then they develop a rough process that uses the business language and it should appeal to the boards of the corporations.

Such a business proposal of a process approach in developing corporate identity or other design fields to gain a competitive advantage usually include different steps: + articulating the firms competitive strategy; + design requirements and resources; + insuring communication among design and other functions; + the design brief; + measuring performance (Olson et al., 2000). It is somehow obvious that designers themselves need some different and more specific information.

The specific and different information could be presented in complex models or could be put in simple laws of corporate design that are the constitution of the corporate identity. In the process of developing the corporate identity, corporate design needs to assure: + change, but sensible change; + understanding that design is order, and + repetition is power. First law means that corporate design provides the footing, a bridge between the past, present and the future. The second law is about considering the ties that have been forged in cultures and individual minds between images and experiences. And the third law means that corporate is to be integrally and systematically applied to all manifestation of a corporation, be that a sign or annual report. Be that a letterhead or a flag (Van Cauwenberge, 2008).

It is obvious that what is needed is not cosmetic design but the essence of the corporation.

Sources:
Olson, Eric M. et al. 2000. Managing Design for Competitive Advantage: A Process Approach. Design Management Journal: 11/4, p. 10-17.
Van Cauwenberge, Rennat. 2008. Corporate design instrument for change. In a transition, the corporate design should fit the new mental attitude in de Bruijne A.; P Brandt, Hans; de Boer, Sieds. (ed) 2008. Identity 2.0. Bis Publishers. 229 p.