As bankrupt Nortel Networks Corp. (NT) spirals toward a seemingly inevitable demise, people are wondering how the once-venerable company could have fallen so far. For one observer, the answer has much to do with the board of directors.

Nortel’s board includes a strategic consultant (is there a more vague job title on the planet?), a former governor, an engineering school dean, a former Canada pension plan officer, a former member of Parliament and a former US West CEO and, of course, Nortel head Mike Zafirovski. In other words, writes blogger Mark Evans, it’s a bit of a mystery that, over the past eight years of Nortel’s slide, the board “has escaped more than just light scrutiny.”

So Evans’ question is this: What could the board have done differently and what decisions could they have made to prevent Nortel’s downfall?

Good question. Any answers?