Alca-Lu board orders restructure plan

French newspaper Les Echos reported that the Alcatel-Lucent board of directors has given CEO Patricia Russo 30 days to come up with a new, accelerated corporate restructuring plan that she'll present at a scheduled Oct. 30 board meeting. The company didn't comment on what sounds like an ultimatum and a deadline to deliver a workable plan, except to say it does want to accelerate its merger integration program.

Alcatel-Lucent recently adjusted its 2007 revenue outlook downward, and the other vendors are beginning to issue similar warnings, Alca-Lu and Russo have been harshly criticized by people who believe the company's problems don't have much to do with market slowness.

For more:
- MarketWatch discusses the Les Echos story
- The Wall Street Journal has this report (sub. req.)

(Incidentally, The WSJ describes Alca-Lu as a "Franco-American" company, which may be true, but only makes me think of one thing.)