``The output from Uniforce will work as the inputs for Unimage, the company's corporate business image,'' says Guido Schouteet, Corporate Marketing Director, ABN Amro Lease Holding, who is responsible for integrating marketing culture and customer focus throughout the group.

With a budget of Belgian Fr 30 million ($750,000), the Uniforce project is intended to spell out the company's business image in the future. Under the project, a questionnaire has been distributed internally across its 5,000 strong staff worldwide and its clients. India, which has recently been added to ABN Lease Holding's global chain of companies, has also been integrated in the project.

The Uniforce questionnaire covers questions like: which animal/season/flower do you feel is closest to the ABN image? The idea: to glean the perceptions the brand ABN Amro evokes in the minds of employees, clients and other stakeholders.

Says Guido Schouteet, who is also heading the Uniforce project: ``The outcome of the strategic exercise will be analysed and translated into future strategy for the company, and be used to provide guidelines for future functioning.''

The ABN Amro Lease group manages over 550,000 vehicles and employs over 5,000 personnel across 24 countries. What triggered off the current exercise was the need to tailor the image of the organisation to the changing market needs and demands and strengthen its position as a global leader. With increasing globalisation, the group felt that customers were looking for central, international deals and high added value. There was also a need to exploit its assets like extensive fleet database and management expertise and use IT to create new opportunities.

Another aim of the project is to collate findings on the external and internal perceptions about the company image. Any gaps between the two will then be bridged through Project Unimage. According to Schouteet, ``This is in keeping with the company's philosophy of partnership, openness and communication.'' The company's Code of Conduct stresses that the business is driven by shared beliefs and values that are internally and externally consistent and communicated to everyone.

The time frame for the project, which was kicked off in mid-1999, is March 2000. By this time, the results would have been analysed and the major guidelines incorporated in a brand manual that ABN Amro plans to bring out. By November 1999, the project is expected to have its blueprint for strategy, organisational and IT changes ready.

The painting is on the wall

Can a simple painting on the wall become a liet-motif for your corporate culture? At the ABN Amro group they certainly believe so. For, alongwith its Code of Conduct, every office of the group worldwide, displays the visual translation of the company's philosophy in the form of a specially-commissioned painting.

The colourful artwork is packed with symbolic imagery like a wheel (representing mobility); a face in profile (a people-centric organisation); a globe (the company's global character); bright colours like yellow and blue (freshness); and interlocking gears (partnership). Says Guido Schouteet, Corporate Marketing Director, ABN Amro Lease Holding: ``We sell partnerships. Therefore, transparency and openness are very important. We are open to communications.''

The message is simple. Each time an employee walks past the painting, he or she is reminded of the corporate values. Moreover, it brings a comfortable touch of uniformity to the global culture of the organisation, no matter how far-flung the regional offices.

The Code of Conduct, which too is displayed in all offices, spells out the company's commitment to professionalism, responsibility to shareholders, client satisfaction, innovation, people-driven teamwork and quality. In order to convey the essence of the Code employees also receive a personal ruler inscribed with these key concepts.