It’s about 20 hours since Italy walked into the quarter-finals of the 2006 FIFA World Cup. But they could be the most undeserving teams to reach the final eight. Did Italy’s Fabio Grosso deliberately trip over Australian defender, Lucas Neill, to earn that match-saving penalty? If Grosso could keep the ball away from the sliding defender, he could have as well jumped over him. The debate could go on. But after last night, pizza or pasta do not taste as good.

It’s not just soccer. Tricks from the football field are being played almost every other day in the corporate world. It’s not rare to find executives crying wolf (in Italian fashion), about job offers that never exist.

At a time, when it’s difficult to attract new talent, management’s do not think twice about retaining their Grosso’s by rewarding them with penalty kicks– incentives in this case. That’s a real battle confronting most companies. Because, it’s not just the stars who play this game, but still get the benefits. Remember, Grosso was not a star, till yesterday.

As the most undeserving of talent do not just survive, but also thrive when people are at a premium, maybe corporate India could do with a handful of Jack Welch’s. The father of the “perform or perish” principle, who transformed General Electric into one of the world’s greatest conglomerates could certainly be the model referee for Indian companies, be they from software, retail or media. After all, it’s one thing to love and care for your employees and another thing to pamper them. Or corporate India could do with a fourth referee.