Yes, Ingvar Kamprad (1926-2018) was famed in this field. There was an interesting American TV series that was, I think, then also done in the UK - the CEO/MD wore a disguise and was presented to a branch as 'new recruit'. It was fascinating and, sometimes excrutiating. I should like to see every airline CEO do this - either undercover or as the KLM boss.
However, the question would be: What happens when they get back to the desk? do they just make small, local changes or do they instigate something bigger? Unfortunately, the bigger the company, the more difficult the changes become.