Paper to be presented at DRUID15, Rome, June 15-17, 2015 (Coorganized with LUISS) Developing an open innovation capability in MNCs in emerging markets Henry Lopez Vega Linkoping University Management and Engineering henry.lopez.vega@liu.se Wim Vanhaverbeke Hasselt University Marketing and Strategy wim.vanhaberke@uhasselt.be Abstract The benefits of using open innovation to increase the results of R&D activities are widely recognized. Yet, while extant research has primarily focused on the benefits, limitations and mechanisms of external collaborations, it has not sufficiently explored how firms implement an open innovation strategy. This paper proposes embedding open innovation entails balancing: a) the skillfulness of the team to implement an open innovation outbound strategy and b) the cumulative integration of open innovation programs into the firm?s strategy. Here, we report upon the study of a Brazilian multinational (Natura Cosmetics) and explain how it balanced these two dimensions over 14 years. We identified the implementation of an open innovation strategy occurs in three phases: initiation, implementation and establishment. Moreover, we identified boundary spanners and leadership support is fundamental to help connecting internal technological problems with external partnerships, which simultaneously requires the appropriate open innovation program. Jelcodes:O32,M1