Teammate invitation networks: The roles of recommender systems and prior collaboration in team assembly

Teammate invitation networks are foundational for team assembly, and recommender systems (similar to dating websites, but for selecting potential teammates) can aid the formation of such networks. This paper extends Hinds et al.’s (2000) influential model of team member selection by incorporating online recommender systems. Exponential random graph modeling of two samples (overall N = 410; 63 teams; 1,048 invitations) shows the invitation network is predicted by online recommendations, beyond previously-established effects of prior collaboration/familiarity, skills/competence, and homophily. Importantly, online recommendations are less heeded when there is prior collaboration (this effect replicates across samples). This study highlights technology-enabled team assembly from a network perspective.