Definition:
The Business Model Canvas is a one page overview that lays out both what you do (or want to do), and how you go about doing it; enabling structured conversations around management and strategy by laying out the crucial activities and challenges involved with your initiative and how they relate to each other. This visual format, first introduced by Osterwalder and Pigneur, is useful for both existing and new organisations and businesses. Existing programmes can develop new initiatives and identify opportunities while becoming more efficient by illustrating potential trade-offs and aligning activities. New programmes can use it to plan and work out how to make their offering real.
Further Reading:
Book: Agile Competitors and Virtual Organization by Steven L. Goldman, Roger N. Nagel and Kenneth Preiss