Know-How Exchange : Branding

I am a graphic designer that works for a company that has no style guide. None of our six business lines has any sort of corporate branding or consistent identity. The communications department that I work in tries our best to remain consistent, but some of the operating companies have run amuck with their brand (brand being used in the lowest form possible).

I am looking for corporate style guides to use as examples of how companies "brand". Any input where I can get some samples, would be great.

I am also looking for input on how to write a strategic plan on logo design. Our current logo process is:
1. Someone wants a logo
2. We design it
3. They pick it (through a long process)
4. We get it approval by legal, communications director and then company president (company president not always involved in logo design)
5. Then we place it in our server and anything that our department does we use the correct and current logo.

However, we do not send anything to operating company as in the form of corporate identity and how to use the new logo correctly. I want this to stop; I want a standard process to follow. How do I start, how can I write a plan that my director will understand and help implement?