Internationally acclaimed Harvard Business School Professor Geoffrey Jones will be visiting Auckland to give a public lecture at the AUT Business School.

Hosted by the Business and Labour History Group of the New Zealand Work and Labour Market Institute, AUT Business School, Geoffrey Jones will discuss Entrepreneurship in the natural food and beauty industries in a 90-minute lecture on Wednesday 1 February.

Professor Jones has extensive experience writing on the evolution of international entrepreneurship and multinational corporations, specialising in consumer products including beauty and fashion.

In this lecture, he will take a historical and global look at the origins of the natural food and beauty categories. Today, the worldwide organic food and drinks market is worth at least $60 billion, and the organic beauty market represents at least a further $7 billion. This lecture explores how these now substantial categories were created and grown by people who worked for decades as marginal figures in their industries and societies, alternatively dismissed as irrelevant, eccentric, and dangerous.

Dr Simon Mowatt, AUT Associate Professor of Management and leader of the B&LHG says this is a great opportunity for business students and professionals to hear from an expert in his field, visiting from the world's leading business school.

"Professor Jones is a highly respected Fellow of the Academy of International Business and this lecture is sure to be of great interest to a wide audience, including those with an interest in retail markets. With the beauty industry constantly at the forefront of our society and culture today, this lecture will shed some light on how successful entrepreneurs have built up the brands we know today and shaped our perceptions of beauty in the 21st century, as well as providing insights into the key processes of change, innovation and entrepreneurship."

During his visit to AUT University, Professor Jones will also be collaborating with Dr Simon Mowatt on the New Zealand-based research for a new book, examining the origins and development of 'green' business worldwide.