Talcott Parsons: GAIL Paradigm

Early functional perspectives were popularized and refined during the period and after World War II by major contributors to structural functionalism such as Talcott Parsons (1902-1979). Parsons asserted that all societies must meet certain needs in order to survive. Through a fourfold system of functional prerequisites he proposed the GAIL paradigm (Table 1) that all societies must fulfill (Talcott, 2005);

Goal-attainment function  , The polity

Adaptive function, The economy

Integrative function , Cultural system of general values which is concerned with law and social control

Latent pattern maintenance , The normal problem of motivation to fulfill positions in the social system

Through these four functional imperatives of any system of action Talcott attempts to define organizations by locating it systematically in the structure of the society in relation to other categories of social structure. He defines an organization as a social system that consists of the;

Ø  Operative code - mechanisms of the direct process of goal implementation (G)

Ø  Adaptive mechanisms - which concern mobilization of resources (A)

Ø  Integrative mechanisms - institutional patterns which link the structure of the organization with the structure of the society as a whole (I)

Ø  Value system - which defines and legitimized the goals of the organization (L)