When Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) hired Ed Zander in 2004, the company was looking for someone to ignite its wireless handset division with fresh product designs and gargantuan sales. Once the Motorola RAZR hit the shelves and started selling like hotcakes, Zander looked like a genius. But the market-defining RAZR was something that already existed once Zander arrived, lucky enough for him. Over the next four years, though, Motorola fizzled and couldn't replicate the snazzy designs or the robust sales that all its main competitors were still enjoying.Zander resigned from the CEO post earlier this year and Motorola exec Greg Brown took his place. Things have not gotten better really, and Brown's plan to spin off the wireless handset business into another company even had to be put on hold. This week, Motorola also announced it is freezing salaries, suspending 401k matching contributions and cutting compensation for executives in an attempt to stop the bleeding.
But Zander, for reasons unknown, just became a board member of EagleView Technologies -- a company that measures distances using detailed aerial photography for all types of industries like roofing, solar, fencing and others. Why would EagleView want Zander -- who failed miserably at Motorola -- to join its board?
For Zander's global experience in operations, most likely. While Zander's tenure as CEO and President of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) was successful, his second attempt at running a global technology company was anything but. In fact, an argument can be made that Zander, who made many positive changes at Motorola, still did not perform as well as the CEO he replaced, Chris Galvin (who is the grandson of the company's founder).
Zander's academic credentials are top-notch, but unfortunately it takes way more than that to have vision, execution and success in the marketplace, especially one as brutal as telecommunications. Perhaps his insight at EagleView will allow that company to be more successful than it has in the past, since he really did not have much luck in his previous gig.
Cramer on BloggingStocks: This bullish retail story looks like a good fit 
Top growth fund manager sours on Apple, U.S. tech
New Facebook share structure hints at IPO
