The future is unpredictable, but that doesn't mean you can't do something about it. That message is particularly important for the newspaper industry and is the basis of "Scenario Planning for Newspaper Companies," the latest report from the SFN project.

Scenario planning – the practice of imagining a variety of possible futures and planning strategies to cope with them -- allows businesses to take a pro-active approach and prepare for many contingencies.

The SFN report is based on interviews with eight of the world's most prominent publishers, a two-day scenario planning seminar involving executives from 15 countries, and research developed for the SFN project, which identifies, analyses and publicises all important breakthroughs and opportunities that can benefit newspapers all over the world.

An executive summary of the report can be found here.

The process described in the report began with interviews about the future of newspapers with eight leading publishers: Janet Robinson, President of The New York Times: Francis Tiong, CEO of Ming Pao in Hong Kong and Malaysia; Nelson Sirotsky, CEO of RBS in Brazil; Tomas Brunegard, CEO of Stampen Group in Sweden; Olav Mugaas, CEO of Aftenposten in Norway; David Kirk, CEO of Fairfax Media in Australia; Eugen Russ, CEO of Vorarlberger Medienhaus in Austria, and Jim Moroney, CEO of the Dallas Morning News in the United States.