Okay, Mike Zafirovski is Nortel's new CEO with a sweet compensation package and enough power to achieve what he wants strategically without worrying about board interference. So where does he start? Here's a possible scenario: Once he takes over Nov. 15, Zafirovski spends two to three months looking at the company from top to bottom: its technology, R&D, products, management team and partnerships. He then puts together a plan - possibly cribbing some ideas from ex-COO Gary Daichendt, who quit in June after his strategic plan was rejected - and presents it to the board. Ideally, Zafirovski decides to focus on areas where Nortel is ranked #1 or #2. This could mean exiting the enterprise market and, instead, establishing partnerships with companies such as Cisco, whose CEO, John Chambers, has made it clear in the past he wants to dance with Nortel. Then, Zafirovski sells or shuts down the business units that aren't viable. This could see thousands of employees given their walking papers. The next move is picking one of two new growth opportunities and aggressively pursue them. It's that simple. If Zafirovski can execute and one of his new bets pays off, he'll be a hero. If not, he heads back to the U.S. with a suitcase full of cash and the belief he did everything he could to reinvigorate Nortel. By the way, one of the first things Zafirovski might want to when he visits employees in Ottawa is swing by Meriton Networks, which is an emerging player in the metro optical market. Nortel could buy Meriton, pick up some great technology and, in the process, build some goodwill with employees, investors and the telecom world.

Although not quite in the same league as Bobby Orr moving from the Boston Bruins to the Chicago Blackhawks, there is a major "wow" factor to Telus Mobility CEO George Cope being hired as president and COO with Bell Canada. Cope is extremely well-respected and he's been head of Telus/ClearNet for 18 years so perhaps it was time for a change. Among his many new tasks, maybe Cope can fix Bell Mobility (Update: Cope has no duties involving Bell Mobility), which has been struggling and, in the process, gone through several CEOs - Michael Neumann, Alek Krstajic and, most recently, Robert Odendaal. Wonder if Telus CEO Darren Entwistle saw this coming? More important, Telus has a big job replacing Cope with some who is respected by the folks on Bay St.
Ash Chopra, who worked at Bell and Telus, provides an in-depth look at what BCE's poaching of Cope means for Telus, Bell and the telecom landscape.