Let us assume that big businesses -- Capital -- collectively control the government for most practical purposes. In that case, Affirmative Action could be used to further Capital's perceived interests. It might be worthwhile to give up some managerial freedom in order to obtain these benefits, whatever they might be (manipulating racial identity and tension, or beheading or infiltrating minority communities, for example).
In any case, the University of Michigan represents a different segment of the bourgeoisie from corporate leadership and, as Machiavelli observed, while it is seldom good to give away one's own stuff, giving away _someone_else's_ stuff is often quite advantageous.