Hong Kong's manufacturing and trading sector is the biggest pillar among all business sectors, which accounts for 25% of GDP in 20041. While the industrial sector of Hong Kong was enlarged with the expansion of offshore production, many local companies are the integral part of global supply chain, and have a wide scope of responsibility among the suppliers, customers and themselves. However, schedule instabilities are frequently noticed.The aim of the research was to obtain insights from practitioners on how they view schedule instability and to identify factors that affect the degree of instability experienced by manufacturing companies in Hong Kong. In addition to schedule nervousness, collective efficacy on the performance is measured. A research framework developed hypothesising the effect of three factors on schedule instability is further testified for its impact on the collective efficacy on performance. This paper presents how the research framework and survey are developed for the study in Hong Kong and the Delta. The results would be further analysed and extended to other countries in the region. Literatures of schedule instability and collective efficacy, and current situation of Hong Kong manufacturing companies are reviewed. The research paves the way for comparative studies in different parts of the world and in different sectors.