Cracking the Code of Business Student Learning: Through the Lens of Fink’s Taxonomy

Abstract

Business education has increasingly emphasized learning outcomes and assessment, highlighting the need to understand how students achieve program-level competencies across diverse educational backgrounds. This study examines the multiple factors underlying program learning outcomes, guided by Fink’s Taxonomy, to classify students into meaningful clusters and reveal patterns of achievement. Data were collected from a census of secondary sources in the Business program of an international institution, totaling 383 cases. The findings identify four distinct factors of program learning outcomes: Collaborative Intelligence, Adaptive Business Thinking, Holistic Decision Making, and Analytical Acumen. T-tests and ANOVA reveal differences in program learning outcomes performance by gender, entrance mode, school type, and chosen major. Cluster analysis further identifies two distinct student groups—Pathbreakers and Pathfinders—who differ in their achievement on program learning outcomes and associated characteristics. This study proposes Fink’s Taxonomy as an alternative approach to curriculum assessment.