I read a post here yesterday about some of the minor characters in Atlas Shrugged who were just competant--productive people. When a company has these people, the quality is unmistakably high. One great example in real life for me is U.S. WIngs ran by Sergeant Hack. I have issues with the sense of "duty" that military men have, but often people like Hack maintain a high level of quality in their lives, and that comes out directly in their products.