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Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the association between intellectual capital (IC) and resilience in torn societies while proposing an integrative framework. Due to adversities faced by entrepreneurs in such contexts, an understanding of the role of resilience along with IC has become crucial for businesses to succeed and survive. Design/methodology/approach This study takes an in-depth look at the three components of IC – human, organizational and external capital and their association with resilience. In order to do so, a qualitative study on 17 Iraqi micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) was conducted using data collected through semi-structured interviews with the founders. The interviews were translated and coded by native speakers. Findings The results suggest that IC and resilience are interrelated concepts where IC components contribute to the resilience capabilities of entrepreneurs to survive and continue their businesses during turbulent times. Practical implications Implications for managers and policymakers are presented; in brief, strategies and policies are required to support entrepreneurial success in the Iraqi context. Originality/value The study contributes to the literature on IC for entrepreneurs. So far, few studies have dealt with the association between IC and resilience, and less so in torn societies. This paper contributes to research on enterprise development and survival under conflict zones; it highlights some of the factors that could form resilience of a MSME in the face of uncertainty; and it contributes to the literature on IC as it helps us understand certain capacities that build up and/or support MSME resilience in such a context.

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We induce a first-person conceptualization of entrepreneurial resilience. Our seven-year, two-study ethnography shows that entrepreneurs enact resilience as a four-step process of managing vulnerability: they richly experience episodes of adversity, self-monitor across episodes, reassess personal thresholds and reconcile challenges with coping skills. Entrepreneurs manage vulnerability by (1) modifying ( stretching and shrinking) objective time and (2) changing their subjective experience of time as working with or against the clock through temporal resourcing or temporal resisting. We extend the theory and practice of entrepreneurial resilience by elaborating the interplay of objective and subjective time in managing vulnerability in recurrent and unprecedented crises.