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Claus Varnes

Associate Professor

Subjects
Decision-making Competition Market Innovation Entrepreneurship Sociology

Primary research areas

De­cision Mak­ing
At arbe­jde med at for­stå hvordan be­slut­ninger træffes og bruges strategisk til for­del­ing af res­sourcer (f.eks. Porte­følje styr­ing). Er be­slut­ninger ra­tion­elle?
In­nov­a­tion Man­age­ment
At arbe­jde med at for­stå hvordan in­nov­a­tion pro­cess­er (f.eks. Gate Systemer eller Lean) skaber struk­tur og per­form­ance ef­fek­ter. Hvordan er bur­eau­krati godt?
Ledels­bar­hed
At arbe­jde med at for­stå hvordan ledelse gøres mu­ligt gen­nem gen­nem ledelsesob­jek­ter. Hvordan over­sættes ledelses­værk­tøjer hos de in­volverede?
Iværk­sæt­teri
At arbe­jde med at for­stå en­tre­pren­uer­skab som en pro­ces. Hvordan man arbe­jder med sit pro­jekt på en ikke-lineær måde: Hvordan skaber man in­teresse, hos no­gen eller no­get som ikke er in­ter­eser­et?
Et marked som et netværk
At arbe­jde med at for­stå tekno­logi og marked sam­skabes. Hvad vil det sige, at en tekno­logi er bedst og hvor­for er det ikke den ‘bed­ste’ som vinder?

Open­ing the black box

Claus J. Varnes is an Associate Professor in the Department of Marketing at Copenhagen Business School. After nearly 10 years of working for several companies and consultants, he entered academia in 2001. Claus earned his B.Sc. from the Arhus School of Business and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. from Copenhagen Business School. As an educator and innovation strategist, he works with the industry on research, consulting, coaching, and teaching.  

Until 2013, he was a partner in a consulting firm that advised on innovation management. Claus is a passionate lecturer. He consults and teaches executives (EMBA and MBD) as well as M.Sc. students about business development.  

He is on the scientific committee of the International Product Development Management Conference (IPDMC). 

Publications

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January 2026

Understanding Consumer Financial Trust Across National Levels of Interpersonal Trust

Tor­ben Han­sen, Professor

Claus Var­nes, Associate Professor

Go to publication

7 June 2025

Unpacking the Context of Decision Criteria

Four Types of Enacted and Sustained Competitiveness

Claus Var­nes, Associate Professor

Go to publication

2023

Inonvation Processes in the Ecosystem

From Focal Actor and Dyad to Collaboration

Gün­ter Pro­ckl, Associate Professor

Claus Var­nes, Associate Professor

Marcel Papert
Go to publication

Recent research projects

The Elec­tric Vehicle

Act­or Net­work The­ory is used to study the dis­putes in­volved in the growth and de­cline of elec­tric vehicles from 1897 to 1902. The in­nov­at­or must ad­dress al­leg­a­tions and de­vel­op counter-in­nov­a­tions.

Port­fo­lio Man­age­ment Meet­ings as Con­ver­sa­tions

The study ex­am­ines the dy­nam­ics of dia­logue in meet­ings and its per­form­at­ive nature. Con­ver­sa­tions ex­ist with­in a con­text and sim­ul­tan­eously in­flu­ence that con­text.