I've been nose-deep in "Competitive Strategy" and "Competitive Advantage" for some weeks now
When you say performing to spec, presumably you mean the aircraft meets the specified performance criteria. As a means of selling a demonstrator or showing feasibility its a good one.
The other interesting aspect for a commercial evaluation is bid compliance. Most of the big companies have complex marking scheme as part of their investment appraisal.
The question is how could a company best compete ? Demonstrating capability rather than simply stating it in the tender is an obvious way (show don't tell)
Although I haven't been involved in procurement for a while, cardinal-points specs were the order of the day (what'ya got !?!) rather than prescriptive specifications. I suppose it's all different again now
If anyone is wondering what on earth I am talking about, you can add your opinion to the (academic) survey using the link
Realising the Benefits for Aviation Industry - Competitive Advantage in Avionics Survey
hugel