Are Star Scientists Overrated? The Bless and Curse of Having Stars in Scientific Teams

While previous research has underscored the disproportionate contributions of star scientists to team innovation, the potential downside of their influence on team dynamics remains underexplored. Drawing on team search routines and resource dependence theories, this study develops a dual-effects framework to examine how star scientists impact the knowledge search behaviours of non-star team members and, consequently, team innovation. Specifically, we investigate how star scientists, along with the creative role identity of non-stars, shape both local and distant search activities within scientific teams. Using multisource data, our findings reveal that star scientists significantly enhance non-star local search behaviours, fostering improvements within established knowledge areas. However, this effect does not extend to distant search activities, where star scientists have no significant impact. Further, we uncover that the interplay between star scientists and non-star creative role identity plays a pivotal role in moderating knowledge search behaviours. This research contributes to the understanding of the complex relationship between high-performing individuals and their teams, emphasizing the need to balance star scientists’ contributions with the creative identities of non-stars to optimize team innovation