The Economist Intelligence Unit recently published a report that highlights some C-suite dynamics that remind me of that childrens' game "monkey in the middle." The report details multiple ways in which surveyed CMOs believe one thing about the role of marketing in the company, and then their other functional peers (CIO, CFO, etc) believe something else about what marketing does / should be doing.
A great summary of that report can be found in a post on the SAS....