While existing research has extensively explored the factors motivating employees to speak up with moral voice, i.e., employees’ communication of ethical concerns to managers, limited attention has been given to how managers endorse and respond to employee moral voice. In this research, we seek to address this gap by proposing that managerial endorsement is determined by how managers evaluate whether employees provided sufficient information to support the ethical concern raised. We further examine the moderating role of managers’ decision-making mindset—specifically their tendency toward maximizing (seeking the best solution) versus satisficing (settling for a good enough solution)—and argue that frequent moral voice can increase the evaluation of information sufficiency when managers have a satisficing mindset. Results of two independent studies, i.e., a survey and a scenario study, provided consistent support to the proposed model. This research contributes to the literature by expanding the theoretical scope of moral voice and providing valuable insights into how managerial cognition affects ethical decision-making within organizations.
