Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Faculty & Research
  • Faculty
  • Research
  • Featured Topics
  • Academic Units
  • …→
  • Harvard Business School→
  • Faculty & Research→
Publications
Publications
  • January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
  • Case
  • HBS Case Collection

Trouble at Tessei

By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
  • Format:Print
  • | Language:English
  • | Pages:16
ShareBar

Abstract

In 2005, Teruo Yabe is asked to revive Tessei, the 669-person JR-East subsidiary responsible for cleaning its Shinkansen ("bullet") trains. Operational mistakes, customer complaints, safety issues, and employee turnover are at or near all-time highs, even as the demands on Tessei continued to grow.

Given previous leaders' failed attempts to fix Tessei's problems with increased managerial monitoring and controls, Yabe seeks a creative approach to overcome the motivation, capability, and coordination challenges facing his organization. Like many contemporary leaders, he selects transparency as his tool. He is, however, unique in adopting a highly nuanced approach to implementing transparency. In the process, he not only leads a fantastic organizational turnaround but even helps to make otherwise "dirty" work more meaningful for Tessei front-line employees. The case therefore presents students, particularly in leadership, organizational behavior, operations management, and service operations courses, with an opportunity to think through how a well-crafted transparency strategy can act as a powerful leadership tool.

Keywords

Service Management; Employee Engagement; Employee Motivation; Leadership And Managing People; Quality Improvement; Efficiency; Japan; Operational Transparency; Employee Coordination; Transparency; Leadership; Service Delivery; Service Operations; Employees; Quality; Transportation Industry; Japan

Citation

Bernstein, Ethan, and Ryan W. Buell. "Trouble at Tessei." Harvard Business School Case 615-044, January 2015. (Revised October 2015.)
  • Educators
  • Purchase

About The Authors

Ethan S. Bernstein

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Ryan W. Buell

Technology and Operations Management
→More Publications

Related Work

    • October 2015 (Revised February 2020)
    • Faculty Research

    Trouble at Tessei

    By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Buell
    • March 2016
    • Faculty Research

    Trouble at Tessei

    By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
    • January 2015 (Revised October 2015)
    • Faculty Research

    Trouble at Tessei

    By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
Related Work
  • Trouble at Tessei By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan Buell
  • Trouble at Tessei By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
  • Trouble at Tessei By: Ethan Bernstein and Ryan W. Buell
ǁ
Campus Map
Harvard Business School
Soldiers Field
Boston, MA 02163
→Map & Directions
→More Contact Information
  • Make a Gift
  • Site Map
  • Jobs
  • Harvard University
  • Trademarks
  • Policies
  • Accessibility
  • Digital Accessibility
Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College.