Many companies celebrated the Supreme Court decision that supported the University of Michigan's affirmative action policy. The decision affirms that you can consider race on the grounds that you're seeking to obtain a diverse workplace environment. But the court also made it clear that any hiring process resembling a quota system probably isn't legal. The ruling could force significant rethinking of corporate policies for personnel ratings and compensation, such as management bonuses for diversity goals.

While companies have made great strides in recruiting minorities over the past decade, those workers still have higher rates of attrition than other workers, and remain thinly represented in management ranks. Minority employees, including managers, tend to occupy a disproportionate degree of lower-ranking staff jobs that carry less prestige and often less pay. Of the nation's 500 largest companies, only three are led by African-Americans.

Virtually all large companies have affirmative action plans in place, especially if they deal with the federal government, but they rarely offer more than broad, long-term goals. Some experts hope that by knocking out quotas, the decision could encourage more creative ways of hiring and interacting with minorities beyond the recruiting stage, such as purchasing from minority businesses and serving minority clients. However, the use of preference programs to steer contracts to women and minority-owned businesses is already under legal assault.