Nortel Needs Cost-Cutting Help?

You've got to be kidding me ! Mercer is same company that ended Nortel's pension plan. I'm left to wonder why a company with greater liabilities than cash should be allowed to continue to operate. Where is the outrage for laid off workers with no severance and pensioners with no pension from Nortel ?

More corruption from the people who eat the stuff for breakfast, lunch and dinner:

“The company says in the filing that Mercer has “substantial knowledge of (Nortel's) current operational condition,” which could help it design an incentive plan for key employees.”

So they hire these “experts” for $$$ so they can help them design an incentive plan to benefit “key employees”?

This is just another way to absolve their corruption. Now when they make big bonuses even in the face of Nortel's downfall, they can point to the consultants and say “it was them, not us!”

Just like how they said the execution of severances was due to advice from their “advisors”

This is typical of Mike Z's style – penny wise and dollar foolish. Even in bankruptcy the Zeroman continues to spend staggering amounts of money on citems that produce absolutely nothing of value – e.g. lawyers and insurance for the BOD – while gasping for pennies by selling off the Alteon product line to Radware. And I sure hope I'm not the only one to see the sweet irony of paying consultants about 10x the wage of an average Nortel engineer to come up with a plan to “reduce costs”. Zeroman and Hacker live in an alternate reality.

BTW Mark, I agree with your last sentence. IMHO you're probably more competent and aware of Nortel's problems than most Mercer consultants. Its high time Mike Z pays you $400 an hour to come up with a plan.

So who's wife, son, daughter or immediate family member is working at Mercer (or will be soon)? One of Mike Z's sons is at McKinsey, right? Maybe Richard Lowe's kids, or Hackney's wife? I'm sure there's a sweetheart deal somewhere in the background!! Criminal. Absolutely criminal.

How about an open letter to the bankruptcy judge? Or President Obama? Or the attorney general? Nortel is the perfect example of executive corruption and greed at the sake of employees, retirees, and stakeholders. At various levels, surely criminal charges are applicable if one were to dig a little bit.

managers are hiring outside managers for cost cutting. so what for the top level executives of nortel are paid? i am so sad for the shareholders of nortel. they are being ripped off.

Hard to believe given the pending news due this week that 3000+ more being let go in 2009.

At this company up is down, left is right, no sense makes sense. I'd have to guess that chapter 7 is the real intention since everyone is willing to justify that chapter 11 is good.

How does hiring expensive consultants save with cost-cutting measures? This action is an insult to even sub-human intelligence (Sorry Joel).

I am now convinced Nortel’s downfall was a premeditated move initiated when Nortel’s management realized that it couldn’t turn this ship around, which I approximate to be about a year ago. This way they buy yet another two years in a market where they could not find anyone would be hiring this bunch of low-life GEngsters. Mercer, McKinsey, et al have done business w/Z before, of that I am certain. This is yet another example of that ‘ol boys club’ where they don’t ask how you got rich, so long you are rich. And yes, they are all rich at the expense of thousands and tens-of-thousands of families left in ruin. God help them and their empty souls!!!!! ..–bb

can anyone tell please? who are the main shareholders of nortel? who selects the BoD?

thanks

That's just the tip of the iceberg – check out dockets 291 & 294 off the US eqip website. See what those investment advisors are charging. Not to mention the dockets out there detailing the lawyers fees which are comparable to Mercer's fees.

The point is that backroom sweetheart deals are in play. Although it is interesting that Z pushed likely tens of millions of dollars to McKinsey for Business Transformation consulting.

Z likely has inside connections at Mercer and using them as a front to promote and justify executive retention and bonus KEIP plans.

Also, I'd love to see a Judas Iscariot video with Z selling us out for thirty pieces of silver.

And this surprises you when you see how Nortel moves alot of managers around when they are laid off to meaningless positions that require no management. Lay them off in the morning and hire them somewhere else in the next day. That is the problem with Nortel and always has been. Too much management. Just let the people do their jobs.
They surely haven't survived their this long due to incompetency. I am talking the rank and file here.

Ford CEO took 30% pay cut today.

My thoughts exactly. They idea that some other company is waiting in the wings to pay big $$$ for the “talents” of Zeroman and Hacker is laughable. Nobody wants these losers. Zeroman simply wants to use Mercer as a smokescreen to get another pound of flesh for himself out of Nortel's dying carcass.

What happned to Lean Six Sigma (LSS) projects that were supposed to cut the operating expensis and other cost? These guys wasted millions on LSS traning.

Will people hit the streets in protest and for survival like in Mexico and other rich-excess and poor-deprived countries? Riots, kidnappings and ransoms, fights for basic survival and human necessities … will we see it?

Mike Z didn't like the advice he got so he made his own decisions….

There is precedent here. When the “transformation” started, they hired McKinsey to work strategy and Bain to attack cost cutting. These were the guys that came up with stellar moves like no styrofoam coffee cups, plastic creamer for coffee and no plants in the office. Of course, apart from the retainer, they got a percentage of the “savings' (paper of course). Kept Bill Donovan employed even after he was removed as HR VP.

Mike likes consultants. Be interesting to see how much has been spent on them in Mike's tenure and what the real benefit was for the shareholders (I wont use the word “impact” as they had a lot of that)

Very interesting. I was talking with some grunts today and they have been doing some significant detective work in Richardson. Our HR never seems to learn. They reserve rooms in their names for separating people from employement with NorHell. This time is no exception. March 4th they have an auditorium reserved for the bloodletting. I've been hearing the March 2nd date for some time, which at least gives folks access to benefits for almost a month, which is amazing they'd be that humane. Word is that it's as much as 25% cuts across the board. We'll see.

At this point, it seems more apt to look at this as NorHell freeing up hostages during the first week of March.

I quote what Happily Retired Cisco Executive (my guess: Gary Kunis) said about Z a few months ago: ‘The only way for Z to give up his compensation is if he leaves Nortel feet first’.

Sorry to hear about that buddy..Hope you land somewhere better soon…
It appears the axe starts swinging this Thursday in Ottawa

http://ottawa.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/2…

In the internal nortel org chart, there're still ~100 ppl with a title including the words 'black belt'.

Nuff said

I think the best way to now hit Nortel is to petition the EDC to use the line of credit on another company. Nortel and its management is not worthy of the credit risk. What exactly is the Canadian government thinking ?!

http://www.edc.ca/english/index.htm

Correction.

Spend money to spend money…

Similarly, you would think that the Z team would have a set of objectives. If any of them don't deliver their piece, they should be classified as a “low performer” and let go. Isn't that what happens to the rest of us ? But then again, Z doesn't and never has had a structured plan, so no-one can be held accountable.

Exactly!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!