Zafirovski joined the company in October 2005 as president and CEO but was replaced by chief restructuring officer Pavi Binning when he resigned in August. The title change more or less summarizes both Zafirovski's record and the company's unfortunate end, a demise that is still being wrapped up in bankruptcy courts today.

It wasn't all Zafirovski's fault. The ex-General Electric and Motorola executive's task was to turn Nortel around but that goal succumbed to a harsher reality. Intense competition, a wobbly international economy and high costs combined to snuff out any survival spark left in the Canadian corporate icon.

Nevertheless, Zafirovski's experience is symptomatic of what has been happening in the electronics industry these last couple of years as many top executives were relieved of their jobs or voluntarily departed following sharp revenue declines and corresponding drop in valuation on the equity markets.

While the global economic downturn wreaked havoc on corporate sales performance in the electronics industry, however, it has also become clear that some executives were either unsuited for the roles they were asked to fill or simply failed to perform at the superstar levels their oversized compensation packages demanded.

Most of the executives who left electronic companies in 2009 left under a cloud of poor performance or were negatively impacted by the industry downturn. While they were not responsible for the global economic downturn that drove the industry into double-digit sales decline in the first half of the year, it was obvious their employers believed they poorly managed the companies through the crisis.

Rick Tsai of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co. Ltd., for instance, got demoted to head a business division following problems at the company.

Zafirovski's tenure at Nortel offers an example of the difference between what the board of directors might expect from an executive at the time of appointment and the individual's actual performance in office.

Zafirovski's charge from Nortel when he assumed the CEO position in 2005 was to turn the failing company around and better position it to compete against top rivals like Ericsson LM and Alcatel-Lucent.

That goal proved unattainable. Midway through his tenure, Zafirovski switched course and proceeded to preside over the reorganization, then bankruptcy and sale of the company's major assets to competitors.

By the time Nortel announced Zafirovski's departure in August the company had either sold or was in the process of selling off most of its more viable operations. His exit marked another milestone in the continued consolidation of the telecom equipment sector, a process that started with the 2000 to 2001 electronics industry downturn.

Soon the Canadian corporate icon would have vanished, to be remembered only as grafted units at ex-rivals and consolidators—like Ericsson LM—who survived a business war that gobbled up companies and savaged executive reputations.