Abstract
The purpose of this study is to identify the knowledge sources of industrial engineering professionals, and to explore the impacts of task characteristics and job contents of these knowledge workers on their choices of the learning channels. One hundred and eleven IE professionals who work for high-tech firms at Hsinchu science-based industry park are surveyed in this study. Our findings indicate there are three types of learning channels in which IE professionals frequently acquire knowledge, that is, external network sources, internal network sources, and training and coded knowledge tools. In addition, three task characteristic variables have statistically significant influences on the usage of learning channels. Task autonomy is positively related to the use of internal network sources. Training adequacy is negatively related to the usage of external network and internal network sources. Task feedback is positively related to all three types of knowledge sources. Finally, in terms of knowledge sources, our results indicate that task characteristics have stronger predictability than job content variables.