Their business has been very strong in optical components and semiconductors.

I'm surprised that Alcatel would want to take that on in a difficult environment for telecommunications equipment. It seems to me they would want to focus on their own profitability instead of taking on Lucent.

I'm surprised by the speed at which it seems to be happening. I continue to be surprised that there aren't more Alcatel shareholders, especially institutional shareholders, protesting this. I think it's a lot for Alcatel to take on.

Managers have a fiduciary reponsibility to utilize all of the available data in a firm to inform decisions

There is no way of keeping profits up but by keeping wages down.

Our business is infested with idiots who try to impress by using pretentious jargon.