When I worked for Lucent, most C+ level managers have doctor degrees.
LZ's position was similar to DMTS in Bell labs, wasn't it?
For optical networking in China, I remember that in 2000, a lot of Lucent China staff joined a company which was founded by a Lucent executive. This guy received PhD of MIT in 70s and was actually one of the earliest HAIGUIs in China. This company won quite many contracts in China Netcom (before merge with north part of CT). Who knows any news of this company these two years?