Continental Airlines - Iconic Actions

Gordon Bethune, CEO of Continental Airlines from 1994 until 2004.

- Concerned that customer-service employees were micromanaging customers by relying too heavily on a very thick instruction manual, he set fire to a stack of manuals in the parking lot.
- After he offered each employee a $65 bonus every month that Continental placed among the top five for on-time departures, Continental jumped to fourth the subsequent month and first thereafter.

Source: http://hbr.harvardbusiness.org/2006/10/the-tools-of-cooperation-and-change/ar/5
(probably quoting from Bethune's book From First to Worst)