Alpha Tech developed a wide assortment of software applications for e-commerce, financial services, and logistics firms. Typically, a client approached Alpha Tech with a list of problems they wanted to solve and/or features they wanted to include in their software applications, which typically involved organizational improvement targets. The majority of Alpha Techs clients were not very tech-savvy: they were heavily dependent on Alpha Tech to diagnose their problems, integrate new features, and implement the software applications. The industry for software applications was highly competitive, wherein the prime requisites for winning orders were the quality of the applications and competitive pricing. Low pricing was vital to winning contracts. Therefore, effective project management was essential for project success, as loosely managed projects could delay the project and increase costs. Hence, it was crucial for Alpha Tech to apply effective project management techniques to ensure project success. After being awarded the chatbot contract, the team members of Alpha Tech were having mixed responses about their roles and the nature of the work they would be undertaking in the project. The project demanded the application of novel digital technologies such as IoT, big data, cloud computing, and machine learning. Prateek was the natural choice to head the project, but he did not relish holding such a responsible position and politely declined. Prateek felt that positions of high accountability and responsibility restricted his creativity. He assured Sachin that he would treat the project as his own and would be the brain behind it without formally heading the team. He agreed to lead the design team while Sachin took the role as project head. Prateek and Sachin were quite enthusiastic about this ambitious project. In a group meeting, Sachin stressed that this project would be speciala milestone in the firms evolutionary journey. Prateek exuberantly exclaimed, if we are able to deliver this project to the client in a timely fashion, theres a high chance well be able to secure similar, quality projects from big, multinational corporations in the future. Therefore, we must ensure timely delivery of this project. The new project received mixed responses from the employees. Sachin was obviously excited as it was his initiative, and he considered it to be a major milestone in the firms growth. Prateek also felt quite excited and engaged. Prateek had taken the prime responsibility of designing the chatbot platform and was driving the software coding and programming elements. He was completely engrossed in the project and expected similar involvement from the other members; however, this was not forthcomingthe other teammates were not equally excited. Problems in the Chatbot Project During the first few weeks, everything went smoothly. Everyone was equally engrossed and were informally discussing the project and its elements with each other. Everyone was well aware of each others work and kept track of the progress of the diverse elements of the project. Soon, however, things started to deteriorate: team members lacked consensus on several aspects of project work; they were unable to understand the clients requirements; whenever they consulted the clients representatives to discuss deliverables, they often had opposing views that led to ambiguity. During this period, Alpha Techs management team noticed an upsurge in project operating costs and a related drop-off in profitability estimates. The project manager and a few senior members of the team blamed project delays on the clients; this tendency to transfer responsibility to the clients was their generic response. Sachin decided to have an informal weekend meeting with the team members over lunch to learn where things were going wrong. Comprehensive discussions with team members revealed that they were unable to clearly understand client needs. Even when they spent time trying to understand the clients requirements and their vision for the product, clients was typically unable to clearly convey the scope to the team members of Alpha Tech. The ambiguities surrounding project scope subsequently led to delays. One team member pointed out, The amount of time we spend understanding clients requirements basically hampers our schedule for delivering project milestones. Another team member lamented, We continuously work to satisfy the clients requirements, but every time we show them our work, they tell us clearly, this isnt what we asked for. As their expectations are constantly changing, its really frustrating for us. We really dont know how to proceed with a project when our clients themselves dont know what they want, and their expectations change after every meeting with us. After patiently listening to the problem underlying the unsatisfactory progress of project work, Sachin struggled to find a solution. Moreover, he was having a hard time convincing their clients that the company would be able to deliver projects in a timely manner. He was going to have to take concrete action to deal with this. Kritikas Inclusion in the Team After much deliberation on the ongoing events, Sachin decided to relinquish his role as project head and hire someone from outside the firm to help Alpha Tech effectively handle the chatbot project and bring it back on track. Kritika Gupta joined Alpha Tech as the new project manager. Kritika was highly qualified with BTech, MTech, and MBA degrees from some of the leading institutes in India and the United States. She also had two years experience working in New Jersey, and three years in a startup in Bengaluru. She had undergone training (during her engineering education) and had also worked in cutting-edge technology-related projects involving AI, machine learning, IoT, robotics, chatbots applications, virtual reality, and augmented reality. She had been interested in project management since her MBA days and had undertaken projects both during her MBA and work experience where she was exposed to some of the latest project management techniques. Agile methodology fascinated her the most. Given her qualifications and experiences, Alpha Tech leadership, especially Sachin, was highly optimistic she would be able to do justice to her new assignment. Based on her own analysis after taking charge as head of the chatbot project and on detailed discussions with the team members about the ongoing challenges that the project was facing, Kritika realized that the initial challenge was to streamline and structure the project with a focus on scheduling, monitoring, and meeting timelines. She decided to apply Scrum methodology to address the problems of uncertainty and unpredictability in the project. She discussed with the team members the benefits and challenges associated with Scrum methodology and ensured members that Scrum would help this project address all the obstacles. The entire project would be done in small cycles called sprints, and a team meeting would be held daily to discuss current tasks and roadblocks. Kritika was a workaholic and very passionate about new technologies. She wanted results and found it difficult to tolerate delays and substandard work. She expected everyone to follow her pace and match her standards of work. Though Sachin had faith in Kritika and in the other team members abilities, he was not entirely convinced with the way things were evolving in the chatbot project and was worried whether his firm would be able to effectively deliver a timely project to MyApparel. Given the recent changes in leadership, changing work styles, members priorities, and the high level of uncertainty associated with the chatbot project, Sachin was somewhat confused and pondered where things had gone wrong and how to proceed. Another person who was unclear about the future of the project, and his own career path, was Prateek. Though he wanted to contribute to Alpha Techs success, remaining there meant making difficult sacrifices. As well as the job offer from MyApparel to join their R&D team, Guruprasad continued to try to entice Prateek back to Crudle Labs. In one recent meeting, Guruprasad proclaimed, I have yet to find a replacement for you. It is very difficult to replace a talent like yours. Prateek still had a soft spot for his close friend, Sachin, and was aware that his exit would have significant implications for Alpha Tech. He had to make a choice between friendship and professional growth. Questions Q1: Critically review Alpha-Tech company and their handling of Chatbot project, their approach to team management, leadership and stakeholder management. What was successful and what was challenging? Q2: What project management tools would be most beneficial for Chatbot project and why? Would you recommend a specific, or a combination of project management method(s)/technique(s)- justify your choice.