"One time-tested tool available to companies to deal with the prevailing uncertainty is scenario planning. A powerful risk management technique originally developed by Royal Dutch/Shell to deal with oil production and price shocks, scenario planning involves imagining different versions of the future and mapping out strategic responses should one or more of those versions become reality. The goal of scenario planning is not to predict the future; it is to anticipate more than one possible future and prepare plans to cope with it. Bain & Co., a consulting firm, says scenario planning... allows users to explore the implications of several alternative futures. This avoids the dangers of single-point forecasts. Having examined the full range of possible futures, a company can more rapidly modify its strategic direction as actual event unfold." (Knowledge Wharton, Using Scenario Planning..., December 5, 2001)