Claus J. Varnes

Claus J. Varnes is an Associate Professor of Marketing and Innovation at Copenhagen Business School's Department of Marketing. He holds a B.Sc. from Aarhus School of Business, an M.Sc., and a Ph.D. from Copenhagen Business School. With nearly ten years of industry and consulting experience prior to entering academia in 2001, he maintains strong industry connections through customized executive seminars and advisory work.

His research bridges market/customer dynamics, strategy, and innovation processes, employing sociological and organizational theories to examine management tools. Current investigations include electric vehicle innovation history, decision-criteria in portfolio management, value creation in sharing economies, external ambidexterity in start-up collaborations, and conversational analysis of strategy meetings. Emerging projects explore innovation process integration, Agile methodology bureaucracies, and organizational narratives.

Varnes teaches courses including Managing Product Development and Innovation, Customer Relationship Management, and Management Paradoxes. He has supervised over 350 students across EMBA, MSc, and PhD programs, with successful transitions of student work to conference papers and journal publications.

He actively contributes to research clusters: studying 'classic' design principles (Design Cluster), customer promises in portfolio management (B2B Group), and algorithmic impact on innovation needs identification (Digital Cluster). Administrative roles include heading HD Sales and Marketing programs and participating in faculty evaluation system reforms.