Management Shakeup at Nortel

Citing a clash in “business views” with CEO Bill Owens, Nortel Networks Corporation today announced a shakeup in its senior management with the resignation of president and COO, Gary Daichendt.

Daichendt’s departure, effective immediately according to a statement, comes just three months after he joined the Ontario-based company. 

Prior to joining Nortel, Daichendt was an executive at Cisco Systems from 1994 until his retirement in 2000, ultimately serving as the company’s number-two man, executive vice president of worldwide operations.

Nortel’s chief technology officer Gary Kunis, who worked with Daichendt at Cisco Systems, also resigned from his position as well, the statement said.

“[Daichendt] has made a huge contribution to Nortel during his time here and has added value to our strategic initiatives and business plan,” Owens said in a statement.  “It has become apparent to [Daichendt] and me, however, that we have divergent management styles and our business views differ.  I respect him for his decision and I wish him every success in his future endeavors.”

According to news reports, Daichendt was hired in March as part of a senior management purge that came on the heels of an accounting scandal.

 “While making the decision to leave Nortel was a difficult one, my time with the Company has confirmed that Nortel has world class technology and people,” said Daichendt in the statement.

Owens will assume Daichendt’s responsibilities, which include leading Nortel’s carrier and enterprise businesses, research and development, services and supply chain functions and global sales and operations, the statement said.

Nortel, which has 30,000 employees worldwide according to its Web site, would continue to be a major player in developing communications capabilities for network and service providers, Owens said in the statement.

“You can be certain that we will continue to focus on operational excellence as a broad-based carrier and enterprise networking company,” Owens said.  “We have a strong business and technology team with significant depth and experience that we will continue to build on.”