The discipline of Business Administration at Nanjing University traces its origins to the commerce program established at the Sanjiang Normal School in 1902. Following the nationwide restructuring of university departments in 1952, the economics and management disciplines were transferred to other institutions. The university re-established the Department of Management in 1986, which served as the foundation for the School of International Business founded in 1988, housing the Department of Business Administration. In 1989, the department was renamed the Department of International Enterprise Management, before reverting to its current name, the Department of Business Administration, in 1997.

The department offers a comprehensive academic structure, including an undergraduate program in Business Administration, a master's program in Corporate  Management, as well as a doctoral program and a postdoctoral research station in the first-level discipline of Business Administration.

The discipline holds several prestigious distinctions: the first-level discipline of Business Administration is a Key Discipline of Jiangsu Province, while Corporate  Management is a National Key Discipline (Level 2) and a Jiangsu Provincial Advantageous Discipline. The Business Administration major was designated as a National First-Class Undergraduate Major Construction Site in 2019, and the course Management is recognized as a National Excellent Course.

The department boasts a distinguished faculty of 19 members, including 11 professors (all doctoral supervisors) and 7 associate professors. The faculty features two National-level Teaching Teams, one Provincial-level Teaching Team, one Chief Expert of the Marxist Theory Research and Construction Project, two National-level Talents, four academic leaders under Jiangsu Province's "Qinglan Project," and three cultivates under the "333 High-level Talent Training Project." Over the past five years, the faculty has been awarded one Second Prize in the Ministry of Education's Scientific Research Outstanding Achievements (Humanities and Social Sciences), multiple Jiangsu Philosophy and Social Science Outstanding Achievements Awards (1 First Prize, 2 Second Prizes, 5 Third Prizes), and one Jiangsu Science and Technology Contribution Award.

The department has established an all-around, multi-level, and interdisciplinary management education system. It is dedicated to cultivating research-oriented talents with solid theoretical foundations, versatile management professionals with composite skills, and entrepreneurial talents with high IQ, EQ, and AQ (Adversity Quotient). Furthermore, the department serves as the primary source of faculty for the MBA, EMBA, and International MBA programs.

The department conducts extensive and academically influential research in fields such as enterprise management theory, strategy and organization, operations management, investment management, human resource management, and technological innovation management.

The faculty has published a vast array of high-quality academic papers  in both prestigious domestic and international journals, including Academy of Management Journal, Journal of Applied Psychology, Journal of International Business Studies, European Journal of Operational Research, Management and Organization Review, Human Resource Management, Annals of Operations Research, International Journal of Production Research, Human Resource Management Review, Journal of the Operational Research Society, International Small Business Journal, International Business Review, Global Strategy Journal, Management World, China Industrial Economics, and Acta Psychologica Sinica. Additionally, the department has undertaken nearly one hundred research projects at the provincial/ministerial level and above, including Key Projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and Major Projects of the National Social Science Fund.