The Department of Commerce was setup in 1972.  The courses, M.Com., Diploma in Offoce Management & Secretarial Practice (DOMSP) and Ph.D were started in 1973.  In 1974 it started offering the Diploma in Business Administration (DBA).  It was in 1981 the M.Phil Course was started by the department.

     The setting up of the Department of Management Studies was in 1982 and started functioning as a combained department alongwith the Department of Commerce.  The full time MBA programme was started in the same year with accredition by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE).  Till the inception of the IIMK in 1997 it was the only management institute in this part of the country.

     Responding to the changed needs and demand the department started part-time MBA programmes at three centres in 1993, and the department conducted a part-time PGDCA in 1995 at the IHRD Calicut with their technical assistance.  In the year 2002 we started self-financing centres to offer full-tieme MBA programme at Palakkad, Thrissur, Calicut, Vadakara, later on Kuttippuram and Thirur-Thrissur centres were also establishted.  These MBA centres were late renamed as School of Management Studies.  Under the School of Distance Education we started Master of Hospital Administration (MHA) and later on it was taken to John Mathai Campus, Thrissur.  MHA course was renamed as MBA Health care and a new MBA with specialisation on International Finance was also started in the JMC campus in collaboration Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA).  The International Finance specialisation option is available for M.Com. students of DCMS with the support of International Skill Development Corporation (ISDC) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA). 

     One hundred and twenty four research scholars have secured their Ph.D. Degree from this department so far.