The reasons why the merger went forward were proactive in strategic nature. Alcatel wanted to achieve economies of scale in merging with Lucent. As stated, βIn telecoms scale is vital. Without significant scale, profitability suffers. In that context, mergers are presented as the best means to create scale,β and that is why this move went forward.2 Cost savings through synergy were expected to be large in addition to providing new service and product lines. Alcatel