Can New Bosses Fix Alcatel-Lucent?

Ben Verwaayen's first morning in the job as the new chief executive of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) on Sept. 2 provides a hint of how rapidly things are set to change at the troubled Paris-based maker of telecommunications equipment. When Verwaayen asked for business cards, he was told they would take three days. Not good enough. He demanded—and got—them in three hours.

Verwaayen, 56, recently retired as CEO of British telecom giant BT Group (BT) after leading a solid turnaround that transformed the telco into a leader in broadband, Internet Protocol (IP), and IT services. A native of the Netherlands, Verwaayen previously ran the former Dutch national phone monopoly, then known as Royal PTT and now called KPN (KPN.AS), helping it adjust to increased competition. He also served several years as the vice-chairman of Lucent before its merger with Alcatel.