Background: A production manager, due to the sensitive nature of their responsibilities within an organization, has numerous duties toward their subordinates, the organization, and the organizational environment. In fulfilling these responsibilities, they are obligated to adhere to professional ethics. The aim of this study is to identify the ethical propositions that a production manager must observe as part of their professional responsibilities, categorized as professional ethics.
Method: This research is a qualitative study with an inductive approach, using the grounded theory strategy and the analytical methods of Strauss and Corbin. The target population consists of active production managers across various manufacturing industries. A purposive sample of 12 production managers was selected. The research tool was semi-structured interviews, and MAXQDA software was used for coding the interviews. Statistical analysis was conducted using the Chi-square test and SPSS software.
Results: The findings of this study categorize the professional ethics of a production manager into three main areas: ethical obligations toward production staff, toward the organization, and toward the environment of the organization, which includes consumers of the organization's products. Among these, ethical propositions toward the organization had the highest frequency.
Conclusion: Given the increasing pressures on production managers, organizations should consider the unique conditions of production when drafting ethical codes. By balancing expectations and prioritizing long-term benefits and sustainable development over short-term gains, organizations can support production managers in adhering to professional ethics and contribute to building an ethical organization.