In the years since the scandals at WorldCom and Enron broke, the public remains skeptical of the business world in some ways. Half say wrongdoing among corporate executives is a widespread problem and people are divided on how effective tougher penalties will be. Majorities say they are dissatisfied with the size and influence of major corporations, and few Americans give business executives high ratings for honesty and ethical standards. On the other hand, large majorities believe the success of American business has a lot to do with the strength of this country. Relatively few say they have a negative view of the accounting profession. In their experience, majorities of workers believe their employer is loyal to them. In Public Agenda's focus groups on this issue, we've found that average citizens seem to define business ethics differently than corporate executives. Citizens believe preserving jobs should be a major ethical priority for business and layoffs should be a last resort. In contrast, most business leaders told us that sometimes layoffs are an inevitable part of staying competitive. When executives talked about ethics, they were concerned about the damage recent scandals have done to business' reputation and the need to restore public trust. (Find out more in A Few Bad Apples?).