FireMr.Z's Comments RSS Syndication from SeekingAlpha.com http://seekingalpha.comuser/275696/comments http://seekingalpha.com/article/112832-what-to-expect-from-nortel-in-09?source=feed#comment-342939 342939
Nortel's problem is that it was one of the many victums at the end of a generation of management only interested in what they could earn on the way out to retirement. There was no restructuring plan, it was purely resume stepping stones, paychecks and bonus stops for Mr. Z and his insiders. One more [big] CEO bonus pow-wow to go for M&A, now that most of the big indians are all gone.

This is not rocket science, had there really been a real restructuring plan; It would have been acompanied by a real marketing plan. C'mon!]]> Wed, 31 Dec 2008 17:31:00 -0500
Nortel's problem is that it was one of the many victums at the end of a generation of management only interested in what they could earn on the way out to retirement. There was no restructuring plan, it was purely resume stepping stones, paychecks and bonus stops for Mr. Z and his insiders. One more [big] CEO bonus pow-wow to go for M&A, now that most of the big indians are all gone.

This is not rocket science, had there really been a real restructuring plan; It would have been acompanied by a real marketing plan. C'mon!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/110745-nortel-news-rethinking-bay-networks-acquisition-delisting-threat?source=feed#comment-330427 330427 Mon, 15 Dec 2008 18:56:29 -0500 http://seekingalpha.com/article/106510-what-would-john-chambers-have-done-for-nortel?source=feed#comment-318973 318973
Long after this economic crisis is over. The global community will still be saying I want to buy a 'Cisco' [Router], as they do in Latin America. Little if anyone says I want to buy a 'Nortel' when it comes to brand recognition, unless it is practically given away.

The true test of a brand is its ability to retain value, which ultimately leads to the purist form of marketshare...

my 2 cents.


On Nov 26 09:53 AM Keldogs wrote:

> Just curious -
> What is the total loss in terms of percentage of Market Cap -- Is
> it possible the NT lost a bigger percentage of it's total than Cisco?
> ]]> Tue, 02 Dec 2008 12:10:23 -0500
Long after this economic crisis is over. The global community will still be saying I want to buy a 'Cisco' [Router], as they do in Latin America. Little if anyone says I want to buy a 'Nortel' when it comes to brand recognition, unless it is practically given away.

The true test of a brand is its ability to retain value, which ultimately leads to the purist form of marketshare...

my 2 cents.


On Nov 26 09:53 AM Keldogs wrote:

> Just curious -
> What is the total loss in terms of percentage of Market Cap -- Is
> it possible the NT lost a bigger percentage of it's total than Cisco?
> ]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/106510-what-would-john-chambers-have-done-for-nortel?source=feed#comment-312215 312215
However, I would argue that marketing all be it in a minor part of the company at the time was alive and well in the Enterprise Business Networks leadship category. Classic examples of Meridian Mail customer partnering did a fair job of implementing customer driven features, and eventually leading to the only unified messaging application with a separate voice/fax message store from email. Which was later copied by Avaya and Cisco, long after Nortel dominated marketshare. Even the SL-1, Meridian 1 and CS 1000 was largely customer driven on the feature side of product development. Still, too much of marketing was spees and fees driven in the end.


On Nov 20 01:04 PM Keldogs wrote:

> The major change Chambers would have brought to Nortel is a cultural
> one – being marketing. One thing Chamber's knows is that the best
> technical solution is NOT needed to be the winner.. Just as Ray Norda
> knew how to propel Novell over the technically superior Banyon. Chamber’s
> is well aware that while Cisco does not have technically superior
> gear – he has created the Cisco image - everyone knows the name,
> students at high schools, colleges and trade schools are being taught
> the CLI and technology - and created the "no one gets fired choosing
> Cisco" mantra. John did that while competing with companies offering
> a more scalable and extensible architecture.
>
> The fall of Nortel and it’s gene pool (which includes Synoptics,
> WellFleet and BayNetworks) were all engineering driven companies,
> all of which have/had the failed philosophy that the best technical
> solution wins..
> While I agree with many comments of what changes are needed inside
> Nortel –I believe Chamber's biggest challenge and ultimate victory
> would happen by making Nortel in to a Marketing company... creating
> a culture where customer requirements actually take precedence of
> some technical Phd buried in the labs and being out of touch with
> the customer base.. I have two examples – 1. Wellfleet routers while
> technically superior to Cisco did not have a CLI – the techs rebelled
> and always purchased Cisco. 2. Synoptics tech founder was bent on
> ATM and refused the sales departments (screaming) requests to put
> an FDDI connector on a 10mbit enet swich – all because ATM was the
> technical direction of the day --- Two classic examples where technology
> was allowed by CEO to ignore the market…. Chambers would not have
> made that fatal mistake..]]> Fri, 21 Nov 2008 21:37:18 -0500
However, I would argue that marketing all be it in a minor part of the company at the time was alive and well in the Enterprise Business Networks leadship category. Classic examples of Meridian Mail customer partnering did a fair job of implementing customer driven features, and eventually leading to the only unified messaging application with a separate voice/fax message store from email. Which was later copied by Avaya and Cisco, long after Nortel dominated marketshare. Even the SL-1, Meridian 1 and CS 1000 was largely customer driven on the feature side of product development. Still, too much of marketing was spees and fees driven in the end.


On Nov 20 01:04 PM Keldogs wrote:

> The major change Chambers would have brought to Nortel is a cultural
> one – being marketing. One thing Chamber's knows is that the best
> technical solution is NOT needed to be the winner.. Just as Ray Norda
> knew how to propel Novell over the technically superior Banyon. Chamber’s
> is well aware that while Cisco does not have technically superior
> gear – he has created the Cisco image - everyone knows the name,
> students at high schools, colleges and trade schools are being taught
> the CLI and technology - and created the "no one gets fired choosing
> Cisco" mantra. John did that while competing with companies offering
> a more scalable and extensible architecture.
>
> The fall of Nortel and it’s gene pool (which includes Synoptics,
> WellFleet and BayNetworks) were all engineering driven companies,
> all of which have/had the failed philosophy that the best technical
> solution wins..
> While I agree with many comments of what changes are needed inside
> Nortel –I believe Chamber's biggest challenge and ultimate victory
> would happen by making Nortel in to a Marketing company... creating
> a culture where customer requirements actually take precedence of
> some technical Phd buried in the labs and being out of touch with
> the customer base.. I have two examples – 1. Wellfleet routers while
> technically superior to Cisco did not have a CLI – the techs rebelled
> and always purchased Cisco. 2. Synoptics tech founder was bent on
> ATM and refused the sales departments (screaming) requests to put
> an FDDI connector on a 10mbit enet swich – all because ATM was the
> technical direction of the day --- Two classic examples where technology
> was allowed by CEO to ignore the market…. Chambers would not have
> made that fatal mistake..]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/106510-what-would-john-chambers-have-done-for-nortel?source=feed#comment-310001 310001
Really, no kidding! Go look at the ' insiders transactions ' on the Nortel ticker page...

... can you believe this group of managers actually believe they deserve a bonus after their 3Q performance and the company just announced salary freezes?

Hey, I know; lets sink employee moral down a bit farther just in time for another xmas layoff session. Why make the holidays even remotely fun for the have-nots in the company, their lucky to keep their jobs, right?]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:28:06 -0500
Really, no kidding! Go look at the ' insiders transactions ' on the Nortel ticker page...

... can you believe this group of managers actually believe they deserve a bonus after their 3Q performance and the company just announced salary freezes?

Hey, I know; lets sink employee moral down a bit farther just in time for another xmas layoff session. Why make the holidays even remotely fun for the have-nots in the company, their lucky to keep their jobs, right?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/106510-what-would-john-chambers-have-done-for-nortel?source=feed#comment-309982 309982
Since when does a corporate executive warrant a severence for failure to execute a successful business plan? If a wanna-bee CxO wants a leadership role in a company, they should be willing to bet their compensation on their personal success in my opinion.

I hope the day is near when a new crop of senior talent comes into power with integrity of success. Pushing-out and nulifying the existence of the 1990s and 2000 erea executive whose track-record for success is dismal to say the least. I think that would make for interesting cocktail-party gossup, where legacy executives mingle with the new age of responsible management.]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 12:17:22 -0500
Since when does a corporate executive warrant a severence for failure to execute a successful business plan? If a wanna-bee CxO wants a leadership role in a company, they should be willing to bet their compensation on their personal success in my opinion.

I hope the day is near when a new crop of senior talent comes into power with integrity of success. Pushing-out and nulifying the existence of the 1990s and 2000 erea executive whose track-record for success is dismal to say the least. I think that would make for interesting cocktail-party gossup, where legacy executives mingle with the new age of responsible management.]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/106510-what-would-john-chambers-have-done-for-nortel?source=feed#comment-309833 309833
I witnessed many a VP promote grand ideas such as outsourcing, only to have key details come back and bite the company in the ass. Leaving the worker bees to fight-fire preventable issues while distracting the business of winning business.

Accountability is completely abscent at Nortel, so long as a good idea looks good on paper while being implemented. The spinner of the idea typically goes off with bonus or options in hand to disrupt another business unit or department, with little or no copability to previous duties.

Profitable product lines are bled to bolster under-performing product lines purely in the name of intra-business politics and power grabbing. Business units routinely undercut eachother in the name of marketshare rather than colaborative winning strategies.

Until you've actually worked at Nortel for any length of time, which in its hay-day used to be the funniest company to work at, most of you have zero understanding of what the reality on the ground is all about...

...moral is shoot

...management is a joke

...layoff pkgs are salvation

I wish all the pundits would look at companies from the zero-foot level instead of trying to be a virtual CEO!]]> Wed, 19 Nov 2008 10:29:20 -0500
I witnessed many a VP promote grand ideas such as outsourcing, only to have key details come back and bite the company in the ass. Leaving the worker bees to fight-fire preventable issues while distracting the business of winning business.

Accountability is completely abscent at Nortel, so long as a good idea looks good on paper while being implemented. The spinner of the idea typically goes off with bonus or options in hand to disrupt another business unit or department, with little or no copability to previous duties.

Profitable product lines are bled to bolster under-performing product lines purely in the name of intra-business politics and power grabbing. Business units routinely undercut eachother in the name of marketshare rather than colaborative winning strategies.

Until you've actually worked at Nortel for any length of time, which in its hay-day used to be the funniest company to work at, most of you have zero understanding of what the reality on the ground is all about...

...moral is shoot

...management is a joke

...layoff pkgs are salvation

I wish all the pundits would look at companies from the zero-foot level instead of trying to be a virtual CEO!]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98568-nortel-is-it-time-for-a-change-at-the-top?source=feed#comment-276299 276299
How hard it must be for Canadian Nortel employees to stomach working for the company that is not only failing their career, but, failing their retirement as well.

Not like an Enron that was a quick death, this is a slow agonizing cerbal hemorage on a monumental proportion for the average Canadian employee.

Do you think we could think about ythe employee for a change...?]]> Tue, 07 Oct 2008 19:05:06 -0400
How hard it must be for Canadian Nortel employees to stomach working for the company that is not only failing their career, but, failing their retirement as well.

Not like an Enron that was a quick death, this is a slow agonizing cerbal hemorage on a monumental proportion for the average Canadian employee.

Do you think we could think about ythe employee for a change...?]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98568-nortel-is-it-time-for-a-change-at-the-top?source=feed#comment-276292 276292
If anything, Nortel should be the key business school example of how to ruin a company and demoralize employees...]]> Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:55:28 -0400
If anything, Nortel should be the key business school example of how to ruin a company and demoralize employees...]]> http://seekingalpha.com/article/98568-nortel-is-it-time-for-a-change-at-the-top?source=feed#comment-276284 276284 Tue, 07 Oct 2008 18:45:07 -0400