Tracey Messer, PhD, holds a doctorate in organizational behavior and an MBA with a specialty in entrepreneurship and organizational behavior, both from Case Western Reserve University. Messer teaches courses addressing leadership and individual development, team effectiveness and emotional intelligence, all with the aim of helping individuals become better leaders and teammates and, therein, building stronger organizations.
In addition to Weatherhead’s undergraduate program, Messer teaches in the specialized master's programs in engineering and management, business analytics, and operations and supply chain management.
Her scholarship has appeared in textbooks, monographs and academic journals. She regularly presents her research at academic meetings including the Academy of Management and the Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference.
Initially Appointed: 2004
Teaching Information
Teaching Interests
Courses Taught
Office Hours
By Appointment Only
Research Information
Research Projects
Messer’s research focuses on dynamics of entrepreneurship, specifically family business and social ventures, like B corps, and how these ventures are extensions and expressions of the values of the leaders. Messer’s interest in this area grew out of experience in her family’s chemical company and her own experience as the founder of a small business. Additionally, before entering academia as a career, Messer was a development officer with the World Wildlife Fund, building a keen sense of how individual values come to play in organizational life, leadership and among team members.
Awards and Honors
External Appointments
- Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, 2001 - Present
- Reviewer, Academy of Management, 2001 - Present
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Family Business Review, Thousand Oaks, California, 2020
- Consultant for Team Science, Clinical and Translational Science Collaborative, 2019 - 2020
- Committee Member, UCITE Advisory Committee, 2018 - 2021
- Faculty Advisor, QGrad - Graduate and Professional Organization for LGBTQ Students, 2018 - 2020
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching and Learning, Los Angeles, California, 2018
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Management Teaching Review, 2018
- Host, CWRU International Friendship Program, 2017 - 2019
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Management Teaching Review, 2017
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching and Learning, Los Angeles, California, 2017
- Reviewer, Ad Hoc Reviewer, Management Teaching Review, 2017
Publications
- Trinh, M. P., van Esch, C. , Martinez, H. A., Messer, T. E. (2021).
Appreciating Large Classes: Using Appreciative Inquiry to Foster a Hospitable Learning Space for Experiential Learning (pp. Online First) Sage: Journal of Management Education/Sage - Messer, T. E., Neuman, E. (2018). In Afzal Rahim (Ed.)
Family Business (3rd ed., pp. 22) Congella Academic Publishing: Congella Academic Publishing - Messer, T. E. (2015). In Afzal Rahim (Ed.)
Family Business (2nd ed., pp. 22) Congella Academic Publishing: Congella Academic Publishing - Messer, T. E. (2012). In Afzal Rahim (Ed.)
Family Business (1st ed., pp. 22) Congella Academic Publishing: Cognella Academic Publishing - Messer, T. E. (2010).
Fasteners For Retail: A Question of Succession (A & B) (3rd ed., pp. 19) southwest: Southwest - Messer, T. E. (2010).
Reliance Industries: A case study (pp. 11) South-Western: South-Western - Messer, T. E. (2006).
Reliance Industries: A case study (2 ed., pp. 11) South-Western: Southwest - Steven, W. , Vanessa, D. U., Liz, K. S., Messer, T. E. (2006). In Vanessa Urch Druskat, Gerald Mount , Fabio Sala (Ed.)
The link between group emotional competence and group effectiveness (1 ed. ) Sage: Lawrence Erlbaum - Messer, T. E. (2006).
Fasteners For Retail: A Question of Succession (A & B) (2nd ed., pp. 19) Mason, OH: Southwest - Messer, T. E. (2004).
Fasteners For Retail: A Question of Succession (A & B) (1st ed., pp. 19) Mason, OH: Southwest - Poza, E. J., Messer, T. E. (2001).
Spousal Leadership and Continuity in the Family Firm (vol. 14, issue 1, pp. 25-36) Blackwell Publishing: Family Business Review
Presentations
- Messer, T., Van Esch, C., Martinez, H. A., Trinh, M. P. Academy of Management Annual Meeting, "Consideration of Appreciative Inquiry As A Methodology For Experiential Learning In Large Classes", Academy of Management, On-Line. (2020).
- Schwartz, M. J. (Chair/Co-Chair), Messer, T. (Panelist/Discussant), Cruz, M. (Panelist/Discussant), Holmes, O. (Panelist/Discussant), Anteby, M. (Panelist/Discussant), Gonzalez, C. B. (Panelist/Discussant), Van Esch, C. (Chair/Co-Chair) Academy of Management Annual Meeting, "LGBTQQIA+ Inclusion in the Academy of Management: Understanding AoM as an Inclusive Organization", Academy of Management, Boston, Massachussets. (2019).
- Messer, T., Linda, R. (Presenter & Author) Management and Organizational Behavior Teaching Conference, "Experiential Learning Theory & Gestalt Cycle of Experience Walk Into a Management Classroom", Management & Organizational Teaching Society, Mahwah, NJ. (2019).
- Messer, T., Robson, L. OBTC/Org Behavior Teaching Conference, "Educator as Adventurer: Using Inquiry in Place of the Swiss Army Knife", Organizational Behavior Teaching Society, Providence College, Providence, RI. (2017).
- Robson, L. (Presenter & Author), Messer, T. (Author Only) IOBTC, "Thin Slices: The Art & Science of Conversation", OBS, University of Winchester, UK. (2016).