Motorola Could Use Nortel's Mike Z.

Barron’s had a story about Motorola (MOT) and the showdown between investor Carl Icahn and Motorola CEO Ed Zander. Here’s the intriguing first paragraph:

MOTOROLA HAS BEEN DOMINATING THE HEADLINES with last week’s contentious showdown between Carl Icahn and Chief Executive Ed Zander. But one of the more intriguing characters missing from that drama was Nortel Networks Chief Executive Mike Zafirovski, who was one of the key players in helping Motorola fix its storied mobile phone business earlier this decade.

It’s an interesting proposition given that Zander was selected to be Motorola’s CEO over Zafirovski - a development that eventually propelled Mike Z. into the arms of Nortel (NT).

Motorola could probably use Zafirovski about now. A General Electric alumnus, he was hired by former Motorola CEO Chris Galvin and teamed with then-Chief Technology Officer Ralph Pini to lead a rebound in phones that eventually spawned the RAZR. But before the fruits of their labor were evident in 2003, the board forced Galvin out and passed over Zafirovski to recruit Zander from Silicon Valley. Both Pini and Zafirovski eventually left Motorola after Zander’s arrival.

Since then, Zander has been left with a relatively bare bench when it comes to cellphone-engineering turnaround specialists. Of course, Motorola is still stocked with capable engineering talent, but designing an iconic (Moto’s favorite adjective) high-margin platform on a fast-track, with Icahn breathing down Zander’s neck at the same time, won’t be easy.

Zafirovski, with his operations and manufacturing experience, might well have been up to the task. Instead, he finds himself leading a turnaround that is probably even more challenging than the one at Motorola. Nortel was in a real mess when he arrived in late 2005, and he has worked diligently to straighten it out. The Canadian telecom giant doesn’t make handsets but does compete with Motorola in the rapidly consolidating telecommunications infrastructure industry.