Public sector reform programs implemented across Afhca, including the World Bank 'srn"first " and 'second" generation reforms, are based on the assumption that all publicrnorganizations are inefficient. This study with the particular pwpose of assessing thernorganizational cliiture and peljormance of Oromia bureaus, however, argues that thisrnassumption is problematic and has had significant implications for organizationalrnchange policy. By failing to recognize that not all public organizations peljorm poorlyrnand to consider the specific situations of organizations, policy makers may ignore anyrnpotential lessons that could have been learnt /i'om the experiences of organizations thatrnhave managed to peljorm ~ffectively under the same social, political, economic andrnorganizational environments, and public-sector change policies that could have beenrntailored to specific organizations. The study survey 10 Oromia bureaus classified as therngood and poor performers using descriptive survey research method and bothrnquantitative and qualitative data gathered /i'om 223 respondents and 10 intervieweesrnthrough questionnaire and interview respectively. Based on these data, the studyrnanalyzed the characteristics of poor and good peljorming bureaus using both descriptivernand inferential statistics in identifying the organizational culture and peljormancerndifferential of the two types of organizations. In these processes, the study found thatrngood and poor performing bureaus in Oromia were significantly different in respect ofrnthe current core organizational culture type, recruitment practices, employeernrecognitions and sanctions, remuneration, leaders' consistency in exhibiting behaviorsrnrequired of employees, employees' commitment to the organization and cooperative teamrnworking. To the extent that the characteristics of an organization determine thernorganization's culture and peljormance, the findings results suggest that differentrnorganizations- even those in the same region and/or in the same sector often haverndifferent culture(s) and peljormance which is may be partly allributed to differences inrnthe core organizational culture type, employees recruitment procedures, recognition andrnsanction as well as incentive systems, leaders ' behavioral nOrms and actions, and torndifferences in the employees commitment and cooperative team working. And, creatingrneffective public sector organization requires taking situations in the specificrnorganizations into consideration andfocusing on those internal and external variables, inrnwhich the two groups of organizations differed, rather than one-size:fits-all approachesrnor solutions.