A 2009 Ernst & Young study found that Buurtzorg (see "Concrete examples for inspiration" below) requires, on average, close to 40 percent fewer hours of care per client than other nursing organizations- which is ironic when you consider that nurses in Buurtzorg take time for coffee and talk with the patients, their families, and neighbors, while other nursing organizations have come to time "products" in minutes. Patients stay in care only half as long,heal faster, and become more autonomous. A third of emergency hospital admissions are avoided, and when a patient does need to be admitted to the hospital, the average stay is shorter. The savings for the Dutch social security system are considerable- Ernst & Young estimates that close to € 2 billion would be saved in the Netherlands every year if all home care organizations achieved Buurtzorg's results. Scaled to the US population, this savings would be equivalent to roughly $ 49 billion.^[5]

In the case of FAVI (see "Concrete examples for inspiration" below), a foundry based in France, all its competitors have moved to China to enjoy cheaper labor costs. And yet FAVI is not only the one producer left standing in Europe; it also commands a 50 percent market share for its gearbox forks. Its product quality is legendary, and its on-time delivery close to mythical: workers are proud of their record of not a single order delivered late in over 25 years. FAVI delivers high profit margins, year in and year out, despite Chinese competition, salaries well above average, and highly cyclical demand patterns.^[6]