From the Pentagon: A New Identity Framework

Abstract

This paper summarizes the latest developments relating to a new approach to corporate identity management called ‘Dr Balmer's AC²ID Test™’. The approach is the most recent development of a model that was initially reported in Balmer and Soenen (1999). The revised model makes explicit what was implicit in the original ACID Test and, as such, accords perception, which in the revised framework is styled ‘the conceived identity,’ an enhanced status. Furthermore, it is posited that ten key interfaces require examination rather than the six interfaces outlined in the original model. This new approach has the objective of reconciling the five identity types which impinge upon any corporate entity. The approach also draws on the diverse disciplinary strands which inform our understanding of an organization's identity. The five identity types are the actual, communicated, conceived, ideal, and desired identities. To date, the nascent field of identity studies appears to have lacked an overarching structure that would enable managers and scholars to orchestrate these seemingly different perspectives into a meaningful whole. Dr Balmer's AC²ID Test™ is grounded in the premise that the lack of alignment between any two of the identity forces will sow the seeds of corporate malaise. Thus, the modus vivendi of the test is that senior management should align the five identities so that they are broadly congruent with each other.