The Internet has revolutionized the capacity to share information across organizations resulting in radical transformations of organizational practices. Most previous research focused on information systems and technology, e-commerce applications such as Inter-Organizational Systems (IOS's), competitive advantages, and security issues, without examining the interactions and behaviors of the trading parties. The emphasis on IOS's gave rise to concerns about Inter-Organizational Relationships (IOR's), as trading partners became aware of the social-political factors that affected their relationships. IOS's involve the sharing of e-commerce applications in different locations. When this study was initiated in 1997, universal standards for business-to-business were not fully developed. This posed a security concern for businesses, in particular Small-Medium-Enterprises (SME's) in Australia and New Zealand. Given the importance of collaborative relations in today's e-business, the role of inter-organizational trust has become of fundamental importance for business-to-business e-commerce. This study aims to examine the importance of inter-organizational trust (or trading partner trust) in e-commerce participation.