The University of Peshawar decided to merge the Department of Public and Business Administration in order to have greater synergy into a single entity in 1994. Thus, the institute of Management Studies (IMS) was formally established in 1995. During the short span of time, IMS developed its own niche in a highly competitive market and established its own reputation among the students, academia, and professionals community.

Initially, the IMS started master program in Public Administration & Business Administration. However,due to overwhelming interest and growing demands, the IMS started its Under-Graduate Programs of BBA(Hon) & BBA-IT (Hons) in Management Science in 2002. The IMS offers one year MBA & MBA-IT for its graduate students from the current academic session beside its two year master program in Public & Business Administration.

The Research & Development Division is another major component of the IMS. Its major objectives include promoting academic and policy research in the fields of business, industry, public enterprises, and other related areas. Beside,enrolling limited students for higher students for higher studies like M.Phil and Ph.D., R&DD is also playing a significant role to meet individuals and organizational needs by offering short term courses. It also plans and organizes internship training for IMS students with various work organizations of repute.