What does 'Snakes and Ladders' mean? Not the board game...?

Question

I have to read 'The Economist' article called 'Snakes and Ladders' for school. I read it twice and it makes no sense to me. Maybe if I understood what is Snakes and Ladders, I might understand the article more.
What does "Snakes and Ladders" mean?

Answer 1

It's a game, but if you understand how the game works, it might make sense to you.
It's a game that requires no skill at all.
You roll a die to move your marker up the ladder
If you land on the lower-numbered end of the squares with a "ladder", move the token up to the higher-numbered square (known as "climbing the ladder"). If you land on the higher-numbered square of a pair with a "snake", you move the token down to the lower-numbered square (known as "sliding down the snake").
So whether you progress up or down the ladder is complete random. If this is about corporate structure, then companies must get rid of their "snakes"-- the slippery downward paths that can cripple or ruin a company.