In locations where competencies fall short of what firms need, training and development programs can be used to improve the quality of talent available and at the same time increase a firm’s appeal as an employer. In China, Microsoft uses development and recognition programs that appeal to first time programmers. Development programs include a rotation to the U.S. and recognition programs include being selected as a ‘‘Silk Road Scholar.’’ This program, analogous in higher education to being designated a ‘‘Rhodes Scholar,’’ is named after the famous travel route that connected Europe to China and made famous by the trading of Marco Polo in the thirteenth century.