No business enjoys having to spend money that they shouldn't have to, particularly during a global recession where money might be tight. Having to fork out cash for items that you don't need can cost you anywhere from a few hundred to a few million pounds based on your business size.

These are just some of the areas where your company may be overspending: buying equipment and tools you already own, paying insurance on items you don't have, losing equipment due to poor security. That was just 3 examples of where your company might be over spending, I could list alot more.

For the majority of over spending reasons, the reason why the money is being spent is poor asset management. Asset management means that you know how many assets your company has and when they are being used. Asset tracking means tracking down all your company assets.

Many companies find that they really have no idea how many assets their company has. Even if an audit has been carried out, in the time taken to complete it, your company assets might have been changed. The best way to get a good knowledge of what assets your company has is by outsourcing the process to a special asset management company.

Asset management companies will help your business track all the items using special asset tracking software which will record all the information and keep it for future reference. Asset management companies will help you to simplify the process of asset audits in the future. RFID asset tracking is just an example of how auditing can be simplified for the future.

Once you have collected your database of assets, you can now use it to help your business. There are a large number of benefits from knowing what assets you have and where you can find them. All the ways to benefit from the assets knowledge all drill down to 2 things, saving money and making more money.

As a company you should be able to use your assets database for all the following uses, if not, you should consider having a more detailed audit.

• You should be able to improve your company sales. By knowing the precise location and the status of every asset your company owns, you no longer have to waste time searching the building for the a tool that's already being used. You can also avoid having to pay for a piece of equipment that you already own on the floor above.

• You might also be able to push down the costs of your company insurance. By having this asset database, you can show it to your insurance company to stop paying for any assets you no longer own.

• Finally, you might be able to improve your company security. By knowing the areas where your assets are, you can keep watch on them and make sure they are secure. Also, now that you have a complete asset list, you'll be able to know when any assets go 'missing' from the company.

Decision making is the topic for this part of our guide to organizational management…

Decisions, big and small, need to be made every day, and for an organization to be effective, its managers need to be able to constantly solve problems and make decisions that are of benefit to it.

It is critical to first prioritize issues and problems based on the issues potential effect on the organization. Those that stand to have the greatest impact should be dealt with first, and all problems need to be addressed in a systematic way prior to a decision being made.

Jumping to conclusions should be avoided as first impressions rarely give the whole picture - obtaining and assessing all the information available being the best way to prevent doing this. Such information should ideally be from more than one source to prevent bias and should be verifiable in some way.

Brainstorming possible solutions with one or more individuals, after receiving all relevant information, can provide a few different perspectives, which can be beneficial to coming up with an elucidation that will work. Potential options can be wide-ranging in the beginning and narrowed down and tweaked until the best possible fix is determined.

Having identified a set of options and solutions, feedback and suggestions on them, along with alternatives, should be sought from consultations with others. For the most part, group decisions (particularly where the group contains people who the end decision will affect) are preferable to those made by individuals as a pool of knowledge, skills and experience can be drawn upon.

Available assistance in the decision-making process can come in the form of Pareto Analysis, Paired Comparison Analysis, Grid Analysis, PMI, Six Thinking Hats, Starbursting, and Decision Trees, to name but a few. These techniques should not be relied upon solely to make a decision, but should be used to guide the process and offer a more scientific-approach. This is of particular importance where the decision-maker is a little too close to the issue to see the bigger picture.

The final step will be to weigh the positive benefit of each proposed solution against any negative impact such decision may incur, as few solutions can be implemented without some draw-back. The best solution will be the one that offers the most positive benefit, with the least likelihood of negative side-effects.

A great offering and the right marketing tactics are the two pillars of any successful organization. If you are finding it difficult to prove to your customers how your product is superior to other offerings in the same category, then business awards could be a way out. Getting a business award can help you win new customers and generate more profits by selling your products at higher margins.

The positive publicity generated after winning a business award promotes sales thereby increasing your companys revenue. Participating in an award does not cost a lot of money and if you win, the press coverage in all the leading financial magazines and newspapers provides your company some great advertising for free. As explained at business award, specific efforts should also be made by the company to reap the benefits of winning an award. Placing the award details in your companys leaflets, displaying the award logo on your home page, and developing a media campaign based on the win are some of the ways to spread awareness about the award. See corporate identity london for specific ideas on winning design.

It may be a little trickier to translate your award win into higher profit margins than the competition. The award win must be conveyed as an evidence of better quality of your product, which will help you gain an edge over the competition and you may even be able to sell the product for a higher price. It is usually not possible to increase the prices significantly. However, you can provide a financial boost to your company even if you sell your product at only a marginally increased price as compared to your competitors.

Besides these two direct financial advantages, there are many indirect benefits of winning a business award. Winning an award builds trust in your organization and gives it respectability. An award win will open doors to new avenues and will help you strike more beneficial terms with your partners.