In contrast to the USA, the United Kingdom and Japan, where international management has been an integral part of business schools' teaching and research programs for decades, there was a strong reservation in this area in German-speaking business administration until the 1970s. Thus, when the subject of business administration was expanded in German-speaking countries, chairs were initially created primarily for the individual operational functional areas, while only very few chairs were established for the integrative core area of international management.

With regard to the increasing global expansion of the subject of international management, the European International Business Academy (EIBA) was founded in Brussels in 1974 at the instigation of the European Foundation for Management Development, which promotes and coordinates research projects in the field of international management in particular at its annual conferences.  Hans Günther Meissner, of the University of Dortmund, was the German representative on the EIBA steering committee for a period following its inception.

In 1976, the academic commission of International Management was founded as part of the Academic Association for Business Research (VHB). The first annual meeting of the commission took place at the University of Dortmund in February 1977. At the beginning, the commission consisted of around 20 professors. In the meantime, the number of members has risen to over 200. Prominent representatives from the business world are usually invited to the annual conferences.

Since its foundation, the following colleagues have chaired the commission:

The Academic Commission for International Management has to date carried out very intensive and differentiated work with regard to the establishment of International Management as a subject within the catalogue of business subjects in German-speaking countries. There are now a number of chairs that include International Management or related disciplines in their title. Nevertheless, the subject of international management is still not sufficiently represented at German-speaking universities. Some large faculties in particular do not yet have any specialised chairs for international management.

International issues are increasingly attracting the interest of practitioners due to the growing international integration of companies, particularly within the European Union. This is particularly evident in the fact that there is a growing demand on the part of companies for graduates who have dealt with international management issues in a theoretical and systematic manner. For this reason alone - according to the Commission - the subject of international management will continue to gain in importance in the coming years in the course of the generally observable globalisation trends.