• The New York Times, Tuesday, July 8, 2008 10:30 AM

Daniel Hesse has so much to do to repair a tattered corporate culture that executives made bets he would not even show up his first day as Sprint's CEO in December. Reeling from an ill-fated merger with Nextel, the company's customers were leaving in droves. They'd grown tired of years of inattentive customer service and a lackluster array of cell phones.

Hesse's first order of business was to order new commercials that he ended up starring in. Hesse, who once ran AT&T's wireless unit, is featured in the spots asking customers to e-mail him with complaints and to give Sprint another chance. In what it calls its most successful campaign in years, Sprint has received thousands of e-mail messages from customers who are only too happy to give him a piece of their mind.

At Hesse's first operational meeting with senior managers, he demanded to know which of three top executives was responsible for appeasing disgruntled customers. No one raised a hand. He has now made every executive in every department responsible for customer service, and he starts every weekly meeting with an update from Bob Johnson, Sprint's chief service officer.

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