{
  "title": "Finance for non-financial managers in Basel-Stadt: how should a supplier’s price be compared with the cost of an in-house activity?",
  "url": "https://shr.swiss/blog/finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne-en",
  "language": "en",
  "datePublished": "2026-07-08",
  "publisher": {
    "name": "SHR — Swiss Human Resources",
    "url": "https://shr.swiss",
    "address": "Esplanade de Pont-Rouge 9A, 1212 Lancy, Suisse"
  },
  "summary": "Outsourcing laboratory work cannot be decided simply by comparing an invoice with an accounting cost. Genuinely avoidable expenditure, coordination and contractual dependencies also need to be examined.",
  "section": "Research",
  "topic": "Finance for Non-Financial Managers",
  "place": {
    "name": "Basel",
    "region": "Bâle-Ville",
    "country": "CH"
  },
  "keyPoints": [
    {
      "heading": "1. What the literature establishes: price does not capture the whole transaction",
      "point": "Ronald Coase (1937, Economica) explains the existence of firms through the costs of using the market, including gathering information and negotiating contracts."
    },
    {
      "heading": "2. A mechanism: dependence on specialised assets",
      "point": "Oliver Williamson (1979, The Journal of Law and Economics) analyses how asset specificity, uncertainty and transaction frequency influence suitable governance arrangements."
    },
    {
      "heading": "3. The premature conclusion: a lower price would justify outsourcing",
      "point": "An external price below the full internal cost does not, by itself, demonstrate an achievable saving."
    },
    {
      "heading": "4. The limits: a theoretical framework, not a local verdict",
      "point": "These two articles provide theoretical frameworks; they do not measure outsourcing savings in the canton of Basel-Stadt."
    },
    {
      "heading": "5. A practical check in Basel",
      "point": "For the “Finance for non-financial managers” programme, a relevant exercise would compare, in a hypothetical Basel case, keeping analytical work in-house with transferring it to a cross-border laboratory, with samples transported by a Rhine logistics partner."
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    {
      "authors": "Coase",
      "year": "1937",
      "source": "Economica"
    },
    {
      "authors": "Williamson",
      "year": "1979",
      "source": "The Journal of Law and Economics"
    }
  ],
  "wordCount": 417,
  "image": "https://shr.swiss/img/blog-Training-Finance-For-Non-Financial-Managers-Basel-finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne-en.jpg?v=4",
  "translations": {
    "fr": "https://shr.swiss/blog/finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne",
    "en": "https://shr.swiss/blog/finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne-en",
    "de": "https://shr.swiss/blog/finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne-de",
    "it": "https://shr.swiss/blog/finance-non-financiers-bale-ville-comparer-prix-prestataire-cout-interne-it"
  },
  "relatedPages": {
    "programme": "https://shr.swiss/formation-finance-pour-non-financiers-bale",
    "city": "https://shr.swiss/formations-ville/bale",
    "blog": "https://shr.swiss/blog"
  },
  "citationPolicy": "Citation autorisée avec mention « SHR — Swiss Human Resources » et lien vers l'article."
}