The Real End of Nortel?

Is this it? Is the end of Nortel’s (NRTLQ.PK) long history going to end with a whimper as the company solicits bids for its remaining assets?

What a sad, sad end to Canada’s flagship high-tech company.

The Wall St. Journal is reporting that Nokia Siemesn Networks is looking to buy Nortel’s carrier networks business and Nortel’s R&D operations focused on LTE. Meanwhile, Nortel has put its enterprise business on the block, and attracted bids from Avaya and Siemens Enterprise Communications.

Is this is the best that Nortel’s senior management and board of directors can do?

The company files for bankruptcy protection with more than $2 billion of cash on the balance sheet and launches a restructuring plan that slashes employees without severance or benefits while putting in place incentive plans for senior management and a small group of employees, and the end game is selling off assets to the highest bidder?

You. can’t. be. serious.

There is something terribly wrong with this picture.

What’s happened over the past three years since Mike Zafirovski took over the reins, and promised a New Nortel? What about all the bullishness and optimism?

It just seems wrong to see what’s happening. And sad.

Comments

[Vuke:]

Mark, surely you've heard the old joke?

Q: What happens to psychopaths that don't become mass murderers?

A: They go into finance.

Apr 08 07:24 AM

[rickyjoe:]

The core focus of the upper management seems to be loading their pockets with $$$. They take the company to its lowest point and then restructure with a bonus plan for cutting costs as they cut off severance and eliminate as much payouts as possible. Their methods for the past 5 years at least have been to keep trying to make the bottom line look better so they get bigger bonuses.

They have been utterly clueless about what really needed to be done, and have remained focused on their Six Sigma and black belts and massive processes while not doing anything to make the business work better. The slogan is "Business made Simple" but it doesn't apply internally. It has been made almost impossible to get things done, to purchase needed tools and components. A simple purchase in years past takes months and repeated cycles through the center of excellence in Mexico. And they have their list of approved vendors so we pay multiple times the cost of simple items like cables.

These guys are totally self serving!

Apr 08 11:37 AM

[Robert - AN1:]

I am with you on this one. I was Northern Telecom (Nortel) certified in 1990, sat with and was friends with many of the upper management at NT at that time. What our "Motorola" import did the last three years was no help to what happened by the others in the 2001 fraud issues. If Canada is on this so closely with tax incentives, other companies are pledging they will use Nortel products for future business ventures; why isn't Mike Zafirovski stepping to the plate ? Of course his resume may look good on paper but in my eyes he did nothing with Motorola and as we say in the medical world; a well balanced individual cannot finish a doctorate degree. We can't even read his paper and he is definitely not an "application" leaderNortel right now needs a KKR company if the Air Canada gentlemen is not going to take the company on an upward flight. Maybe we are all just scared by the offers they are letting come forward but making them public knowledge and not going to press statements with status is the signs of a poor leader. Mr. Zafirovski please step down and go bury your head in a modem. I believe your approach to this business is just that "out of date".

By the way, I am only 43.


On Apr 08 11:37 AM rickyjoe wrote:

> The core focus of the upper management seems to be loading their
> pockets with $$$. They take the company to its lowest point and then
> restructure with a bonus plan for cutting costs as they cut off severance
> and eliminate as much payouts as possible. Their methods for the
> past 5 years at least have been to keep trying to make the bottom
> line look better so they get bigger bonuses.
>
> They have been utterly clueless about what really needed to be done,
> and have remained focused on their Six Sigma and black belts and
> massive processes while not doing anything to make the business work
> better. The slogan is "Business made Simple" but it doesn't apply
> internally. It has been made almost impossible to get things done,
> to purchase needed tools and components. A simple purchase in years
> past takes months and repeated cycles through the center of excellence
> in Mexico. And they have their list of approved vendors so we pay
> multiple times the cost of simple items like cables.
>
> These guys are totally self serving!

Apr 08 05:00 PM

[Nukedinvestor:]

Is there a security fraud here, against countless number of American investors in Nortel? I'm bringing this up if there's a way that US agencies ( SEC, FBI, anyone? ) can seize their US based assets to protect some 'residual' value for US investors.

I also believe their bankruptcy protection application should be thrown out and they should be asked to pay all their employee benefits and creditors, with interest for the period they've been holding those payments.

Apr 14 01:43 AM