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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, a schema is “a mental codification of experience that includes a particular organized way of perceiving cognitively and responding to a complex situation or set of stimuli.” Basically, it is a person’s accumulated knowledge through previous experiences and their involvement with people, situations, and objects. Schema aids in organizing information and assists in predicting the outcome of situations.
A “script” schema is related to the behaviors which are expected to occur in a particular situation. For example, the script schema when eating at a dine in restaurant begins by being greeted by the host, who verifies the number of guests in your party, and then walks you to your table with the correct number of menus. You sit down and peruse the food and drink menu while you await the arrival of your waiter or waitress. He or she will then take your order and within twenty minutes or so, your food will be brought to your table. The experience in the restaurant ends when you pay for the bill and leave. We are all accustomed to these events happening and consider this experience as normal “service.”
In Dennis Gioia’s essay, Pinto Fires and Personal Ethics, he writes about the corporate scripts when he worked as Ford’s Field Recall Coordinator during the Pinto controversy. According to his experiences, the Pinto case did not pose a single red flag. When the topic of recalling the Pinto arrived at Ford, their investigations revealed the frequency of “lighting up” Pintos was relatively low, the tests were within legal limits and comparable to similar models in the market, and there were no directly traceable causes. Gioia states he “had little time for speculative contemplation on potential problems that did not fit a pattern that suggested known courses of action leading to possible recall.” Because he worked at a major corporation and was constantly busy, his personal schema allowed him to process the Pinto case and move on to others. He describes making decisions and “dealing with information in a mode that is akin to ‘cruising on automatic pilot, ’” which he also characterized as not thinking.
In hindsight, it is easy to say Dennis Gioia made an unethical decision when he voted against the recall of the Ford Pinto. However, the full blame cannot be placed on him. As we learn through the text, Ethics in Engineering, “top management sets a moral tone in words, in policies, and by personal example.” The status of a department is a direct reflection of the overseeing manager. In the case of Ford, Lee Iacocca, the former president, prioritized his finances and was fond of saying, “Safety doesn’t sell,” which trickled down to the rest of the company.
Ultimately, the importance of the Ford Pinto case is that we all learn from it. As aspiring Engineers, we must continue to develop our schemata for when we are faced in situations which challenge our values, ethics, or ideals.