Journal of Business Management and Economics 05: 12 December (2017). Contents lists available at www.innovativejournal.in JOURNAL OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT AND ECONOMICS Homepage:http://innovativejournal.in/jbme/index.php/jbme 1 Exploratory Factor Analysis for the SMEs’ Exporting Activities in Southern Area of Vietnam Dr. Phan Thanh Tam 1 and B.A Nguyen Thi Bich Thuy 2 1,2 Lecturer of Lac Hong University (LHU) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15520/jbme.2017.vol5.iss12.275.pp01-07 Abstract: Vietnam has been joined into Word Trade Organization since 2007 and therefore the country needs to take into account a lot of international trading framework but it also brings higher opportunities to explore other markets. Since Vietnamese Small and Medium enterprises (SMEs) are leading industry in term of exports, SMEs have to focus on strengthening their knowledge in term of trading performances. However, there are not so many studies that have been conducted to investigate how export activity responding to its antecedents in Vietnam. This study showed that there were 200 managers of SMEs related to Southern Area of Vietnam who interviewed and answered about 21 questions but 188 managers of SMEs processed. Data collected from 8/2016 to 11/2017 for the managers of SMEs of Southern Area of Vietnam. The paper had been analyzed KMO test, Cronbach's Alpha and the result of KMO analysis which used for multiple regression analysis. Managers of SMEs’ responses measured through an adapted questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale (Conventions: 1: Completely disagree, 2: Disagree, 3: Normal; 4: Agree; 5: completely agree). Hard copy and online questionnaire distributed among 10.000 the SMEs of Southern Area of Vietnam. In addition, the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) results showed that there were five factors affecting the SMEs’ exporting activities of Southern Area of Vietnam with significance level 5 percent. The research results processed from SPSS 20.0 software. Keywords:Exporting, activities, SMEs and LHU INTRODUCTION Nowadays, Vietnam as the international division of labor is taking place; international trade has become an indispensable and indispensable rule for the economic development of all. In fact, no country can survive without saying anything to develop if it isolated itself not related to the world economy. International trade becomes a matter of survival because it allows for a change in the composition of the economy and enhances the well-being of the population of a country. International trade is the purchase and sale of goods and services between nations. It is a form of social interaction and reflects the interdependence of the economy between the commodity producers. Besides, the role of export business in the national economy: Exporting is to create capital for import, serving the industrialization of the country to implement the direction of industrialization and modernization of the country, we must first import a large number of modern machinery and equipment from outside to equip the production base. Capital for importation is often based on sources such as borrowing, aid, foreign investment and exports. Loans are also available, and foreign aid and investment are limited, and these are more often dependent on foreign sources, so the most important source of capital is exports. In fact, any country that has increased its exports, then imports accordingly. On the contrary, if more imports are made, the trade deficit will be too great to negatively affect the national economy. In addition, exports contribute to the economic restructuring, boosting production: The structure of production and consumption in the world has changed dramatically. This is the result of modern scientific and technological revolution. The economic restructuring in the process of industrialization in line with the development trend of the world economy is inevitable for our country. Exporting plays a role in stimulating the renewal of equipment and production technology. Export activities are activities directed to the world market, a market that is increasingly competitive. The existence and development of export goods depends very much on quality and price, so it depends greatly on the technology of producing them. This motivates domestic enterprises to constantly innovate and improve the quality of production technology. On the other hand, exports in a competitive economy also require businesses to innovate and improve their production quality and business management, which requires the improvement of these factors. Facing this situation, the researchers had chosen topic “Exploratory factor analysis for the SMEs’ exporting activities in Southern Area of Vietnam” as a paper. This paper helps policy makers who apply them for improving policy on the management of the SMEs’ exporting activities in Southern Area of Vietnam. LITERATURE REVIEW Firm management characteristics: It is defined as a combination of business and organization of the firms which includes how the management style, the leadership style, corporate culture, etc. In addition, firm management characteristics is related to the influence of management board in order to guide all people to reach a common goals (Heskey, 1984).