Amid the debacle of Nortel Networks’ slide into a telecom has-been, the most shameful chapter was that CEO Mike Zafirovski and the board conceded defeat rather than using bankruptcy protection to remake the company into a smaller and viable telecom supplier. Sure, creditors and bondholders are a happy bunch now but it shouldn’t wallpaper the fact Canada’s flagship high-tech company has disappeared.

With this lesson front and centre, the worse thing RIM could do in face the wake of many challenges is wave the white flag. There is no doubt RIM is struggling given pressure from the iPhone and Android, as well as the weak-ass, half-baked PlayBook that has failed to create even a small ripple in the tablet market.

But the answer for RIM is not to surrender or take major steps backward but to battle on. One truth about the high-tech market is the landscape can turn on a dime. One minute, you’re the star of the show; the next you’re forgotten. Many people forget, for example, that Apple nearly crumbled before Steve Jobs returned to orchestrate its miraculous comeback.

This is not to suggest RIM will enjoy a similar rebound but it would be a mistake to assume that just because RIM is currently struggling, there is nowhere else to go other than downhill.

That said, RIM needs to pull the trigger on some important moves over the next year to avoid becoming irrelevant.

1. Mike Lazaridis and Jim Balsillie should lead the business but not operate it. While there has been calls to appoint an independent chairman, another more significant and bold move would be appointing a new CEO to replace Laziridis and Balsillie. This would be a major move given RIM is their baby but at some point every founder has to step back to allow fresh blood into the mix.

2. The BlackBerry doesn’t have to reinvented or overhauled but it does need to become more of a Swiss Army knife that does a variety of things well rather than an e-mail client/phone device. At the very least, the BlackBerry needs a fantastic Web browser, as well as user-friendly and accessible video and music players. At the same time, BlackBerry World needs to have a strong portfolio but doesn’t need 100,000 apps to be successful.

3. RIM shouuld not only push ahead with the new QNX operating system but start to educate the marketplace on why it will a big leap forward, and how it has the potential to not only bolster the BlackBerry but also wireless devices as well.

4. RIM has to completely overhaul its marketing efforts. It needs to take a completely fresh approach to the consumer market where its efforts have been as awkward as a teenager at a high school dance. RIM’s consumer marketing seems forced rather than playing on its strengths. It is like RIM has adopted a new personality that doesn’t work. The campaign for its BBM service, which the young’uns love, fails to hit the market because RIM isn’t effectively reaching out to the target audience in a natural way.

5. RIM needs to focus on opportunities in international markets but avoid being Friendster-ized. For those of you who remember, Friendster was the leading social media network before it was shoved aside by Facebook. While Friendster is still alive today, its only exists in a handful of Asian countries. While RIM is seeing strong international growth, North America is a big, important market so it needs to create the right devices, marketing plans and, as important, relationships with carriers to stay in the game.