1. The referee, Alexis Maklakoff, has known the candidate, Lawrence, for over 10 years since studying together in a Master's program in Hong Kong. 2. Lawrence excelled in the program and finished at the top of his class. He demonstrated outstanding intellectual ability, creativity, motivation, emotional maturity, and an ability to work well with others. 3. Maklakoff believes Lawrence has a true passion for research and analytics and will make an excellent PhD student and future professor. He highly recommends Lawrence for the PhD position.

1. 1
LETTER OF
RECOMMENDATION
Referee’s Personal Details
Family Name: Maklakoff First Name: Alexis
Nationality: French
Organization: Glen Raven, Inc. / Sunbrella Professional Title: Business Manager
Street: 3509 Environ Way Town: Chapel Hill (NC)
Postal Code: 27517 Country: USA
E-mail: amaklakoff@glenraven.com Telephone: +1-336-684-3883

2. 2
Relationship to Candidate
Please, specify your relationship to candidate:
Professional Educational X Personal X
How long have you known the candidate? Define your relationship with the candidate and the
circumstances whereby you met.
I met Lawrence while doing my Master of Management in Hong Kong with MGSM (Macquarie
Graduate School of Management) in 2004. We worked closely together for almost 2 years on
several projects and it was an absolute pleasure brainstorming with Lawrence. He is extremely
bright and a very open-minded person. Among all of the Master’s associates I worked with,
Lawrence was by far my favorite to work with. Very dedicated and very detailed oriented.
Please give us your appraisal of the applicant in terms of the qualities listed below.
Unusually
Outstanding
(top 1%)
Superior
(top 5%)
Excellent
(top 15%)
Good
(top third)
Average
Middle
(middle third)
Poor
(bottom third)
No
Information
Native
Intellectual
Ability
X
Imagination and
Probable
Creativity
X
Breadth of
General
Knowledge
X
Potential as a
Researcher X
Oral
Communication
Skills
X
Written
Communication
Skills
X
Motivation X
Emotional
Maturity X
Works
Cooperatively
with Others X

3. 3
Potential as a
Teacher X
Ability to Work
without Close
Guidance
X
Please comment on the applicant’s demonstrated capabilities and characteristics (both positive and
negative).
It is without a doubt that Lawrence has a true passion in analytics and research, hence I am very
confident that he will be an amazing PhD student, and eventually become a remarkable
professor. Lawrence finished top of his class during the Master of Management at MGSM, which
clearly demonstrates that he excels in research and delivers a high-quality work in many fields.
What makes Lawrence special is the way he conducts himself within a group of people, always
interacting with respect and always a joy to be around; these are very important qualities to have
when seeking a research and teaching position. It is not common to find someone that is very
bright and very approachable at the same time, while being aware of his surrounding, no matter
what the circumstances are.
When I met Lawrence for the first time, I knew right from the beginning that he will go far. I am
not surprised at all that he is applying for a PhD position at INSEAD. I know that he will excel and
become a wonderful professor with many happy students.
I hope with all my heart that you will give Lawrence the chance to show you how bright he is and
how wonderful of an individual he really is too.