In the wake of Research in Motion’s disappointing financial outlook recently, the anxiousness about the company’s future has been cranked up. This included a highly-speculative story in the Toronto Star about how RIM could become a takeover target. Even more alarming are growing comparisons to Nortel, which was Canada’s flagship high-tech company until it disappeared after filing for bankruptcy protection.

Having covered Nortel for five years as a technology journalist and writing a blog devoted to Nortel, the comparisons between Nortel and RIM are the work of people with nothing better to do than declare the end is nigh. Call it the “Chicken Little Syndrome”, or a typically Canadian reaction of trying to tear down our success stories.

While RIM’s challenges and problems should not be sugar-coated or dismissed as a strategic bump in the road, the situation is far from doom and gloom. RIM has some difficult decisions to make and desperately needs to find a way to reinvigorate its Blackberry and PlayBook sales but it’s a long way from becoming the next Nortel. Here’s a few reasons why the two companies can’t be thrown into the same basket.

1. Stronger Senior Management: Maybe RIM’s co-CEOs, Jim Balsillie and Mike Lazaridis have ruffled some feathers because of their arrogance, and there is no doubt they have failed to strategically execute but they have built RIM into a telecom powerhouse over the past decade. In comparison, Nortel struggled with a string of weak CEOs that included John Roth, Frank “The Bean Counter” Dunn, Bill “The Admiral” Owens and, finally, Mike “Mike Z” Zafirovski, who bumbled and stumbled their way through mistake after mistake until Nortel eventually capitulated.

2. RIM is highly profitable with lots of cash, which should provide it with a healthy financial cushion to figure out how to ride out the storm. In comparison, Nortel was burdened with billions of dollars in debt after missing out on windows to raise equity before its shares became a penny stock.

3. While Laziridis and Balsille were slapped on the wrist by the OSC after being accused stock option backdating, Nortel was killed by class-action lawsuits that cost it billions of dollars and distracted senior management at a time when tough decisions need to be made.

4. Nortel made a series of multi-billion dollar acquisitions that were spectacular failures. Many of them were completely written off, while others were dumped for pennies on the dollar. Again, Nortel’s focus was all over the place. In comparison, RIM’s acquisitions have been small and far more strategic. This includes the purchase of QNX, which will be the core of RIM’s next-generation operating system.

5. Lazaridis and Balsillie control a big chunk of RIM through share ownership. At the end of the day, RIM won’t be sold without their agreement. In comparison, Nortel was controlled by institutional holding stock and debt holders.

6. With the right strategic execution, significant improvements in the half-baked Playbook and a big dose of luck, RIM could keep its status as a tier-one smartphone maker. In a blink of an eye, Nortel went from a tier-one telecom equipment supplier along with Cisco and Alcatel to second-tier, plagued by a portfolio that did not include a market-leading product line.

Again, make no mistake RIM faces some major strategic and tactical challenges amid fierce competition from Apple, Google and Samsung. If RIM continues to stumble, the company could implode. But with the right moves, RIM could regain its industry-leading status.

For more thoughts on whether RIM could become the next Nortel, check out this MarketWatch column by Bill Mann.

Another interesting read is TechCrunch’s John Biggs, who declares that RIM is “done” and that it will sold in the next year or so, probably to Microsoft.