Shareholders of struggling Alcatel-Lucent SA [ALU] will vote next Friday on a resolution that would allow the board to remove the CEO or chairman by a simple majority vote, rather than the two-thirds majority required under existing laws. Anyone even remotely familiar with the pressure that's steadily mounted on CEO Patricia Russo (pictured) as the company's results have continued to disappoint will see that shareholders will be thinking of her when they vote on the resolution.

Russo, the former head of Lucent Technologies Inc. who was named CEO of the combined Alcatel-Lucent following the 2006 merger of Alcatel and Lucent, has been rumored to be on the outs for months. What's interesting about the upcoming resolution is that it could -- if approved -- serve to divide the company, at least in spirit, along premerger lines.

Here's why: The company's 14-member board draws six of its members from the former Paris-based Alcatel and six from the former Lucent Technologies of Murray Hill, N.J. The two remaining members are independent, but as BusinessWeek notes, both of those two have French-leaning loyalties since they are either French or serve on the boards of other French companies.

When Alcatel and Lucent reached an agreement to merge two years ago in one of the largest cross-border deals in recent history, they both tried to characterize the combination as a marriage of equals, partly by naming the American Russo to head the company, even though the deal was widely viewed as a takeover of Lucent by Alcatel. But like the family loyalties that come to surface in any troubled marriage, the national and company identities of these two telecom equipment makers could now emerge with renewed vigor. - Andrea Orr  

See May 16 story on Alcatel-Lucent from BusinessWeek.com
See Jan. 22 story on Alcatel-Lucent from TechConfidential.com
See October 2007 story on Russo from TechConfidential.com
See April 2006 story on Alcatel-Lucent merger from TheDeal.com