| Course | BU 106 Introduction to Business |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 1 |
| Paper type | Business environment discussion |
| Length | About 490 words, 3 pages |
| Format | Discussion post, APA 7 citations |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Business Management |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 106 Unit 1
Unit 1 Discussion: One Environmental Factor at One Company
A $20 Wage Law and a 6% to 7% Burrito: How California's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Reached Chipotle's Menu
Initial Post
The company I chose is Chipotle Mexican Grill, a fast-casual restaurant chain that sells burritos, bowls, tacos and salads made to order on an assembly line. It owns and operates its restaurants rather than franchising them, which matters for this post because Chipotle pays its restaurant workers directly.
The environmental factor is legal, with an economic effect: California's new minimum wage for fast-food workers. A state law signed in 2023 set the minimum wage for employees of large fast-food chains in California at $20 an hour beginning April 1, 2024. For a chain like Chipotle, which operates hundreds of restaurants in California, that is not a distant policy debate. It changes the cost of every shift in every California restaurant, starting on a specific date.
The evidence that it is doing something to the company now is in the company's own numbers and in reporting a classmate can open. Chipotle's annual report shows labor costs rising from about $2.44 billion in 2023 to about $2.79 billion in 2024 and $2.99 billion in 2025 (Chipotle Mexican Grill, 2026). Some of that increase is growth, since the chain keeps opening restaurants, but the California law is part of it. A trade publication reported in May 2024 that Chipotle raised menu prices by 6% to 7% across its California restaurants to cover the higher wages, with the company's chief financial officer saying the move would help maintain restaurant cash flow in the state (Littman, 2024).
That price increase is the visible decision I want to connect to the factor. Chipotle did not raise prices nationally by the same amount; it raised them in the state where the law applied. That tells me the company treated the wage law as a cost it could pass on to customers in that market, rather than absorbing it or cutting staff. It also tells me Chipotle believes its California customers will keep coming at the higher price, which is a bet about competition: every other large fast-food chain in California faced the same law, so Chipotle's competitors were likely raising prices too.
What I cannot tell from the evidence is whether customers noticed. A price change of 6% to 7% on a meal of about $10 is under a dollar, and the reporting did not show traffic numbers for California alone. The course text describes the business environment as the set of outside forces a firm cannot control but must respond to (Gitman et al., 2018), and this case fits that description well: Chipotle did not choose the law, but it chose how to respond.
Question for classmates: if your company faced a sudden 20% increase in wages in one state, would you raise prices only there, spread the increase across all states, or try to absorb it? What would make you choose one over the others?
References
Chipotle Mexican Grill, Inc. (2026). Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001058090&type=10-K
Gitman, L. J., McDaniel, C., Shah, A., Reece, M., Koffel, L., Talsma, B., & Hyatt, J. C. (2018). Introduction to business. OpenStax. https://openstax.org/details/books/introduction-business
Littman, J. (2024, May 16). How 6 chains are reacting to California's minimum wage law. Restaurant Dive. https://www.restaurantdive.com/news/jack-in-the-box-shake-shack-chipotle-pricing-california-minimum-wage/716193/
BU 106 Unit 1 instructions, in plain terms
Unit 1 asks you to write a discussion post on how the business environment affects a real company. Expect to choose a company, describe what it does, pick one environmental force, trace its effect on the business and support your points with sources. Students often ask how many forces to cover. One force traced carefully is stronger than several listed briefly. Choose a force with a clear date and a measurable effect, such as a law, a price change or a technology. Explain the chain from force to cost or revenue to a decision the company made. Use the company's own reports where possible. Keep the post to a few focused paragraphs that invite a reply.
How this BU 106 Unit 1 example is built
The post opens by naming Chipotle and describing its made-to-order assembly line and ownership model. It then introduces California's fast-food wage law, its $20 hourly minimum and its start date. The middle paragraphs trace the effect: higher hourly pay for crew, higher labor cost per restaurant and the menu price increase Chipotle reported for California. A paragraph explains why owning every restaurant means the company absorbs the cost, unlike franchised chains where owners bear it. A short comparison notes how several other chains responded. The post closes with a question for classmates about whether customers will keep paying more and cites the 10-K and the trade article.
Reading the BU 106 Unit 1 rubric
Herzing's rubric for a business environment discussion usually covers the company description, identification of a force, analysis of its effect, use of sources and engagement with peers. Analysis of the force's effect carries the most weight, because the discussion wants students to connect outside conditions to decisions a business makes. Company points reward a clear description of what the firm does and how it is owned. Force criteria look for a specific, dated condition. Source credit goes to company filings and reputable reporting. Writing points reward focused paragraphs. Replies to classmates are often graded separately. The post leans on the company's 2025 annual filing, the Gitman course text and a 2024 trade story on how six chains reacted.
Common BU 106 Unit 1 mistakes, and how to avoid them
Environment posts in BU 106 Unit 1 often slip by listing several forces without explaining any of them. Another frequent problem is describing the company without linking it to the force. Students often skip sources or cite only general websites. The effect is claimed but never followed through cost and price. Ownership structure is ignored, though it decides who bears a cost. The post runs too long for a discussion. No question invites replies. Dates and amounts are missing, so readers cannot judge how large the effect really was or when it began to show in the company's results. Finally, follow one force to one decision, because graders reward a post that shows how a change outside the company becomes a choice inside it.
Get a BU 106 Unit 1 example written to your instructions
Send us the Unit 1 discussion instructions and the rubric your BU 106 classroom posts, along with the company if your section assigns one. We write a custom example that names the firm first, carries one factor through to a decision, sources every fact and closes on a real question. First custom sample free, back in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 106 Unit 1 questions, answered
Does the company have to be a large one?
No, and a smaller firm often works better because one factor reaches it visibly. What matters is that enough is published for a classmate to check what you say: a website, local coverage, a filing if the company is listed. Where your section assigns the firm, use that one. Where it does not, avoid a company so large that every trend touches it somewhere.
How many replies does the discussion need?
Whatever number the instructions set, and they usually set one or two. Read that line before writing, since sections differ on both the count and the point at which responses are expected. A reply that adds a fact, disagrees with a reading or asks the poster something specific counts as participation; one saying the post was interesting and well organized generally does not.
Can I write about the company I work for?
Not from the inside. What your employer knows about its own pricing, staffing or plans belongs to the employer, whatever your access to it happens to be. If the firm is public and the point you want to make rests on published material, use the published material and say nothing only an employee would know. Otherwise pick a different company entirely.
Where can I find a free BU 106 Unit 1 sample paper?
The full BU 106 Unit 1 discussion post is free on this page, California's fast-food wage law traced to Chipotle's menu prices. We can draft a post about a different firm on request.
How does the business environment affect a company?
Outside forces such as laws, the economy, competition and technology change a company's costs, revenue and choices. This sample traces one law, California's $20 fast-food wage, to Chipotle's prices.