It's sort of as if they imagine themselves on a big, flowing river of activity, where, if they are, for example, soft drinks manufacturers, they understand that upstream from them, there's water and sugar, and farmers that grow that sugar, and plastic and metal and glass, all of which flows into this thing that we call a company which has financial results.
Es como si se imaginaran  en un caudaloso río de actividad donde si, por ejemplo, son fabricantes de refrescos, entienden que por encima de ellos hay agua y azúcar, granjeros que cultivan el azúcar y plástico, metal y vidrio. Todo esto desemboca en lo que llamamos una empresa con resultados financieros.