1. Faculty of Management
Leon Recanati Graduate School of Business Administration
ProfessorSimonBenninga
Facultyof Management
Tel AvivUniversity
Max and Steffi Perlman
Professor of Financial Economics
Director, Sofaer International MBA
Office: (+972)-3-640-6317
Fax: (+972)-3-640-7348
Cell: (+972)-523-384-690
benninga@tau.ac.il
http://imba.tau.ac.il
http://simonbenninga.com
July21, 2014
TO: FulbrightU.S.ScholarProgram
RE: Katherine Ombrellaro
I am writingtostronglyrecommendKatherine Ombrellaroforthe FulbrightU.S.Scholarprogram. I
knowKatherine verywell: She wasastudentduring2013-14 inthe SofaerInternationalMBA program
at Tel AvivUniversity,aprogramI direct.
Katherine isbothverysmartand highlymotivated. She wasa verygood studentinourprogram. She
workswell andintelligently,bothbyherself andingroups. She has original ideasandknowshow toset
themforthand implementthem. Ibelieve thatthese traits indicate thatKatherinewillbe asuccessful
candidate fora Fulbrightresearchgrant,capable of makingan impactthroughherresearch.
Professionally,Katherineiswell preparedforherpositionasinvestigatorbasedonherpastexperience
conductingresearch.She hasworked withThe Universityof Chicago, investigatinghow USindicators
affectCEO payin the UK, and alsowithOverlake Hospital inSeattle,evaluatingthe efficiencyof Cordis
stentsinCarotidarteryprocedures.Herexperience witheconometricanalysisandtrainingonthe use of
programssuch as Stata and R, usedto performeconomicandstatistical analysis,suggestthatherwork
will meetinternational standardsforanalysis.More generally,herwork onstrategicdevelopment with
entrepreneurialgroupsinIsrael,andonrural communitydevelopmentinAfricaandHonduras
demonstrate hercapacityforcreative andsustainable problemsolving.Inshort,Ibelieve herpast
professionalexperiencehaspreparedherwell toreceiveaFulbrightResearchgrant.
Furthermore,Katherine workedwell withpartnersfrommanylanguage andcultural groupsduringher
time withthe SofaerInternationalMBA program. I believe herability toworkwithleadersfromawide
range of contextscomesfromthe value Katherineplacesonlistening andherabilitytocommunicate.
Katherine willbe anassetas a representative of the Fulbrightprogramnotonlybecause of herabilityto
effectivelycommunicate,butalsobecause of herabilitytolistento,andto sympathize with the causes
of others.

2. The Fulbrightprogramthat Katherine will be involvedin—researchconcerningthe implementationof
leanmanufacturingmodelsinthe textile industryinGuatemalaand Honduras—strikesme asa
worthwhile idea. Leanmanufacturinghasbeenimplementedinmanypartsof the world;itiscapable of
highimpactchangesparticularlyinlabor-intensiveindustriessuchasthe textile industriesindeveloping
countries. InHonduras´context,the researchagendaKatherine wantstopursue isimportant because
of the degree of competitioninthe regionandthe effectthiscompetitionhasonthe healthof the
textile industryandmore generally,the Honduranlabormarket andeconomy.Byinvestigatingsolutions
to improve operational efficiencyinHondurantextile factories,thisresearchhasthe potential to affect
the textile industrydomestically andinternationally. InadditiontoitscontributioninHonduras,this
researchwouldaddto the bodyof literature onleanmanufacturinginitsprovisionof acase study for
implementationin LatinAmericancountries, which the existingbodyof research failstoaddress.
I thinkKatherine will be anoutstandingresearcher/implementerforthisproject,andI recommendher
veryhighly.
Sincerelyyours,
Prof.SimonBenninga
Prof.of Financial Economics
Director,SofaerInternationalMBA program
Tel AvivUniversity